Start Again
by Ava Miranda Dakedavra
Summary: Hermione is very certain that she is friends with Harry and Ron and is from the nineteen-nineties. However, everyone else is extremely adamant that she is friends with James Potter, Lily Evans and the other Marauders and is from the nineteen-seventies. Oh, and, also, she may or may not have psychic powers. Just a head's up.
1. Goodmorning Sunshine!

Hermione Granger was very well known, you could say. She'd been a major influence in the War, and many people would say that she'd been the one to tip the scale in their favor. And many people would be correct.

She lived simply, or so she tried. She had a small flat that she shared with her cat, and it overlooked a large river, making her smile when she saw it. She was best friends with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, and had very many dinners with the Weasley family. She was nineteen, and had thick curly brown hair and big brown eyes. She was fit, but rather short, and extremely intelligent.

And her head hurt.

It began a few weeks ago. It had started as a small annoyance that was easily overlooked as she tended to her very busy job at the Ministry, overlooking the new Aurors and filing paperwork. But it grew. She'd taken potions for it and even Muggle medication, but it continued to hurt. Harry and Ron both persuaded her to go to Mungo's, but she'd refused, saying that she didn't want to waste their time. But now, today, at the Burrow, it had become this skull splitting pain, causing her to crumple to the floor and cry out, scaring Victoire and Teddy and especially Percy. Harry and Ginny had rushed to her, Missus Weasley dashing for potions to alleviate it as Mister Weasley ran for help. She'd gripped Harry's hand with one hand and tried to push the pressure back into her skull without any physical harm with the other.

"Hermione, just hold on!" Harry called out, looking at his friend worriedly as her vision began to blur.

"Help," she cried, feeling her eyelashes against her cheek. It all stopped for a moment, everything taking a collective big breath and letting it out slowly.

All of the pain in her head was gone, and she could hear her blood pumping in her ears, so loud that it blocked out all other noise. There was a small pressure at the crook of her elbow, finger and also at her wrist at one arm, and her throat felt scratchy and her mouth felt dry. She inhaled deeply, thinking for a moment as to what had happened, then opened her eyes and winced against the bright, white light. She blinked through it and heard the sound of her blood lessening so that she could hear methodic beeping. She looked to her arm and saw tubes and needles, and looked beyond that to the beeping machine that charted the peaks and valleys of her heart. She blinked dazedly, looking around curiously before noticing a slight tug on her nose, causing her throat to protest a little. With a grimace, she saw that a tube was there, making her reach up and pull it out slowly with multiple gags. The beeping increased as her mind rushed, alerting a nurse that she was awake as her shaking hands moved towards the needles and tubes.

"Oh, no, love, don't do that," she said, moving forward to stop her. Hermione looked at her fearfully and grabbed her hands, making her look up as well and look at her curiously.

"Where am I?" she croaked, "What's going on, what - ?"

"Lovey, just calm down," she said slowly, taking her hands and patting them as she looked back at her, "You're at Saint Josephine's Memorial. You were transferred from a Saint Mungo's because you were suffering from a head injury. You've been out for a week and a half."

"Oh," she said, taking her hands and sitting them in her lap.

"I'll tell him you're awake and have the doctor check up on you," the nurse said politely, leaving and making Hermione give a shaky sigh and drag a hand through her hair. She shut her eyes and took deep breaths, listening as the beeping steadied and returned to its methodical, calm sound, rather than the urgent rush it had been.

"Hey," a new voice announced, making her look up and blink and look curiously at him. He had shaggy dark hair and a very good facial structure, and his grin was very wide. He had on a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, Muggle jeans housing his hands in his pockets, and Converse sticking out. But he had no lightning scar, and he had rectangular glasses rather than round, and he had hazel eyes, and he was certainly not Harry Potter.

"Who are you?" she asked, in a somewhat shrill voice, as the beeping turned to urgent again.

The man's eyes widened and he pulled his hands out of his pocket, looking at her with a newfound horror before the doctor chose that moment to step in.

"She – she doesn't remember me," he announced to the doctor, making him blink and usher him out of the room. The doctor spent what felt like a few hours doing tests on Hermione. He asked her what she remembered and told her that he was a Squib, so it was alright to tell him the truth, as it could help her anyway. She told him everything in a mad rush, everything about Ron and Harry and the Weasleys, which only made him purse his lips and nod for a few minutes before calling in James – which only made Hermione turn pale and the monitor to give an even more urgent beep.

"When she was unconscious, it seems that her mind made up an imaginary world somewhat similar to our own," he explained to James, who looked at him curiously and very seriously as Hermione huffed at being ignored. "If it was to try to make sense or to further confuse her, I'm not certain. But her memories are there, they're just repressed. I can give you a few exercises that will – " A loud one toned beep cut him off, making him and James look over towards the bed as Hermione pulled the tubes out of her arm and dropped daintily down to the ground, frowning with her hands on her hips.

"Look, I don't care what _you_ think, but I know that I am not about to be ignored," she stated, walking past the bed and towards the door, "I'm going to go find answers to my questions, goodbye!"

"Hermione, wait," James said, grabbing her arm and tugging her in front of him, making her blink at his chest before frowning up at him. "I'll answer any questions you have in a few minutes, alright? But you've got to sit on the bed."

She frowned at him for a few more minutes before sighing, as this was her best bet at information, and sitting on the edge of the bed before glaring at him. He shot her a grin and followed the doctor out of the room, nodding and speaking quietly before folding the paper he gave him and stuffing it in his pocket, moving to the front desk for a moment to speak to the receptionist before walking back into Hermione's room and shutting the door behind him, slumping in the chair across from her and looking expectantly up at her.

"What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Who the hell are you and why do you look like my best friend?" she asked with a frown, crossing her arms over her chest as he blinked back at her.

"I'm James Potter," he said, "As for your best friend, I don't know who you think that is, but – "

"I _know_ that my best friend is Harry," she interrupted, frowning at him. "Why are you so certain that I dreamed everything up? Maybe I'm dreaming you up instead?"

"Hermione, Hermione," James sat up, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose before releasing it and grinning charmingly up at her, standing slowly. "Okay, I'm going to give you a night to think up as many questions as you can possibly think of. But you're going to have to go slowly and in lay-man's terms, because I'm not as smart as you."

Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes, "I have far too many questions as it is. Don't give me an opportunity to think of more."

"James?" somebody said as they opened the door. They both looked up and blinked at the woman with long, bright red hair and green almond shaped eyes, a worried look on her face as she looked to Hermione.

"Lily," James said as he stood, "I really need you to let Hermione spend the night with you. I'll be by in the morning to explain everything to her. Answer any questions she's got if you can, I've got to tell Moony, Padfoot and Wormtail the same news."

"Of course," Lily nodded before smiling to Hermione, "Well, they say you only get one first impression. They lie so hard. Lily Evans, we were in the same class and House at Hogwarts."

"I'm getting the feeling you already know who I am, so I won't bother," Hermione said, although she stepped down from the bed and shook her hand, "Hi."

Lily smiled brightly back at her, "I drove here after James called me, so I brought you a change of clothes. I've sort of but not really been meaning to return them anyway."

"Uhm…alright," Hermione nodded back as Lily handed her a small duffel bag.

"I'll go sign you out and then find the others," James announced before shooting a feeble grin to Hermione, thanking Lily again, and heading out of the room. Lily gave a curt nod, said she would leave Hermione alone to change, and that if she needed her to yell, and left as well.

Hermione sat down at the end of the bed with a loud sigh, hugging the duffel bag to her chest and looking around worriedly. Whatever was going on, she'd quite like to find out.

* * *

"Hey," Lily said, walking to James as he sat, head bent over the paperwork as he scribbled. "You alright?"

"No," he insisted with a huff, rubbing an eye under his glasses. "She doesn't remember me, Lily. We debated about whether I was being dreamed up or her dream was dreamed up. For a minute I started to believe her, and that only made my head hurt."

"Ow," Lily gave a small smile as she sat down next to him. "We'll fix her, James, don't worry. There's nothing a little bit of friendship and time won't take care of."

"Except, y'know, fixing her memories," he stated bluntly, staring up at the ceiling beyond the pale blue wallpapered walls of the hallway. He grimaced when Lily pinched his arm, grinning as she glared at him.

"Would you stop being negative?" she huffed, rolling her eyes, "Honestly, Hermione does not need you or anyone else thinking that she'll never remember anyone. If you think like that, she'll think that what she dreamed up is real, and then it will take far longer to change her mind and get her to remember. And damn it, James Potter, I want my best friend back! I mean, I know how hard it is on you, and I'm sorry, but this is the girl I spent a majority of my life with, and this is the girl who tries so incredibly hard to make everyone else happy, so if you go and muck things up unintentionally, I _will_ hurt you!"

James blinked at Lily, gripping the clipboard as if it were a shield, as she had stood at some point and was now wiping furiously at her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," Lily sighed, pouting down at him, "Here I am yelling at you about your own problem. Some friend, huh?"

"Yeah, you're not the best," he grinned before signing off on the clipboard and sighing, standing, "Like I said, I'll be by in the morning."

"Alright," she nodded as he went to the reception desk and she went to Hermione's room. "James?"

"Yeah?" he turned from the desk and looked questioningly at her.

"I'm sorry it happened," she said before opening the door and stepping inside, making James sigh a little before the receptionist captured his attention again.


	2. Decidedly Strange

It had light green walls with pink flowers. It was a canopy bed, white and with white sheer curtains with the same kind of pink flowers sewn in. The carpet was white, along with the dresser and the trim on the walls, and the curtain look decidedly out of place, as it was dark blue with constellations on it. There were a few holes in the walls where posters had been tacked up and then taken down, and a few grayscale pictures in frames tried to cover up these holes. Hermione had meant to ask Lily about it, but by that point it was ten at night, nearly eleven, and they were both too tired to do anything, even though Hermione had – apparently – spent a week and a half asleep.

The clothes fit well, the few that were in the closet and dresser there. They had a sense of familiarity, and smelled like the same detergent she used, and so perhaps that was it. She crawled into the bed, staring at the darkened canopy and chewing her lower lip, trying to stay awake to think of all the questions she had. If she were in a hotel, she would have had that little pad of paper and a pen to write them down, but she unfortunately did not. It was probably for the best – it would be rather strange if Lily had a pad of paper and a pen in her guest room.

Lily's house was of moderate size, if somewhat rather large for only one person living there. There was even a second bathroom close to the guest room, done up with the theme of the sea in mind. But this room showed that it had previously been something different, something out of place like the curtain. This time, it was a shower mat with constellations on it. She sensed there was somehow a theme with the stars. The siding on the house was a pale yellow, which was a far better color scheme than her neighbor's – blue with green trim, sadly done in vibrantly bright colors.

Lily had woken her up early that morning, all cheery and happy as she spread apart first the bed curtains, and then the mismatched curtains, leaving Hermione and her bedhead to rise up and frown at her.

"Has anyone ever told you you're awfully cheery in the morning?" Hermione questioned before Lily left the room. "So much so that it's borderline mean and unfair."

She gave a small smirk and nodded, "Yeah. You." She then popped right back into her cheery morning persona, "We've got a busy day today! Best get ready, brush your teeth, comb your hair, get dressed – I have no idea when James will be by, he never does tell me things like that, rather annoying."

Hermione rolled her eyes and gave a small smile, walking to the bathroom and brushing her teeth and hair. It was rather nice, how close Lily and James were, although decidedly worrisome, as by this point, they would at the very least be married if Harry was to be born soon. Once her hair was brushed – and it would've been braided if the band hadn't snapped – she walked to the kitchen and smiled at Lily when she absentmindedly handed her a mug filled with coffee, a bright orange one next to her as she read _the Daily Prophet_ with a slight frown.

"Who used to live in the guest room?" Hermione asked as she stood at the counter, leaning against it with her hands wrapped around the mug for warmth.

"Pardon?" Lily asked, pulling herself slightly away from the paper.

"There's tacks where posters used to be and the curtains don't match," Hermione hummed, "Not to mention the shower mat in the bathroom."

"Oh," Lily blinked before smiling a little, "You did. Then you moved out."

"I did?" she echoed, blinking in surprise, "Where did I move to?"

Lily opened her mouth to answer when the Floo announced that James Potter had walked in, looking extremely tired and out of it, but giving a smile and a slight nod to them before he dropped his face onto the counter and sighed.

"Lily," he said, "You've got toast crumbs on here."

Lily snorted and rolled her eyes, standing and downing the remainder of the orange mug before putting it in the sink. "Every day I wonder why your girlfriend puts up with you."

Hermione blinked, looking between Lily and James, as this could hardly make any sense if James was dating someone who wasn't Lily, "Who's your girlfriend?"

James raised his head and began to whirl around to stop Lily when she was answering, "Why, you are, Hermione."

"_What?_" Hermione shrieked, dropping the mug and looking wide eyed between James and Lily as she stepped away from them and the shards of ceramic and the puddle of hot coffee. Lily blinked back at her as James frowned back at Lily.

"See, Lily, that was one of the things we were going to let her find out on her own time," James huffed.

"Oh," Lily said quietly.

"I – you – _what?_" she said, hands worrying through her hair as James winced, "What the hell?"

"Yeah," James said briskly before giving her a charming grin, "Any other questions?"

"No, no, you're not doing that!" she frowned, pointing at him as he blinked and Lily meekly cleaned up the mug and coffee and vanished them away before taking a few steps away. "You're not giving a cheeky grin and trying to make things go away! How the _hell_ am I dating you? Why the hell didn't you tell me before? What else is going on that you have been hiding from me?"

James blinked before wincing, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully, "Uhm. I don't know how you're dating me, but you are. And the reason I didn't tell you before is because I was going to try to break it to you gently so you wouldn't freak out like this. And we aren't hiding anything from you, but you don't remember, and we don't know what you want to know yet."

Hermione gave a groan and lifted her head to the ceiling, rubbing her eyes, "This can't be happening."

"What, that you and James are dating?" Lily asked curiously. "Hermione, you've been dating since sixth year. You moved in together about ten months ago."

"_What?_"

"Lily!" James cried, glaring at her as she winced. "You're not helping!"

* * *

"Hey, here's our little comatose patient!" Sirius said happily, throwing his arm around Hermione's shoulders and pulling her into a hug, to which she stiffened and looked around worriedly. Sirius was tall, with long hair that probably could've been pulled back, bright grey eyes and an easy-going grin. He had a dark Muggle band t-shirt, his jeans looking a little worse for the wear, with weird boots. Sirius sat on the armrest of a couch, grinning at her as she put distance in between them. "How you feeling? Prongs told us you can't remember anything – in which case, you're totally into me."

"Padfoot," James and Remus chorused as Hermione frowned at him and took two more steps back.

"You'll have to forgive him – he forgets that, as of right now, you have not been exposed to him for nine years," Remus apologized. He was shorter than Sirius, but still rather tall, a polite smile on his face. His hair was a weird light shade of brown, and he had amber eyes, his sleeves rolled up so that she could catch glimpses of scars.

"It's – erm, fine," Hermione said, biting the inside of her cheek and looking around. James had said that they were to go and meet his friends, as that could possibly help jog her memories, although she kept her mouth shut and simply hummed.

"Padfoot, stop trying to steal my girlfriend," James frowned, sitting in a chair with his eyes shut, fingers pressed into his eyes underneath his glasses. Hermione's lips pursed and she frowned even more at James, who winced, as he seemed to remember that she was still rather upset about this fact.

"What?" Sirius asked innocently, "It's like a routine! Maybe it'd help jog her memory."

"Or creep her out incessantly," Remus hummed, "Either way." He gave a grin to Hermione, "Seriously, our actual first impression was far better."

"Yeah," Sirius snorted as he rolled his eyes, "We only just ran into each other. Lovely!"

"I was speaking more of mine, Padfoot," Remus reminded him.

"Oh, right," Sirius said with a blink before flopping back into the couch, his legs thrown over the arm rest as Hermione looked curiously at Remus.

He gave a grin, "We used to be neighbors when we were younger, before I moved away because of my – ahh – furry little problem." James cracked a small grin at that, Sirius giving a small chuckle of laughter. "We were surprised to see each other at Hogwarts, because you were a Muggleborn and everything. So, tell me."

"Tell you what?" she blinked, looking at him curiously.

He scooted Sirius's legs off of the arm rest and sat down, looking up at her expectantly, "What you dreamed. Or, what you perceive as your actual reality. Tell me about it."

She blinked back at him as Sirius and James watched the two, "You aren't going to try to convince me that I'm delusional?"

"Well, maybe we're delusional," he shrugged, "It's all from perspective."

"My God, you're seriously my favorite person right now," she stated.

"What, you aren't going to yell at Moony?" Sirius asked James, who only glared back at him.

Once Hermione told everything from start to finish, first year to her last day in the nineteen-nineties, she was met with absolute silence. The three boys shared looks before small grins began to form.

"So, okay, let me get this straight," Sirius began, sitting up from his spot on the couch, "You were best friends with Lily and James's kid."

"Yes," she said warily, sensing that she wasn't about to like what was about to come next.

"Somebody call Freud, because I think he'd have a fun time with you," he cackled, making James chuckle a little as Remus bit the inside of his cheek and tried not to grin as Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Oy, your girlfriend is serious about this, stop laughing," Remus advised, grabbing a _Prophet_ and swatting at James.

"I know, you don't have to swat a paper at me though," James frowned up at him, "I'm not a dog."

"Isn't that one Sirius though?" Hermione asked dully.

They blinked and looked at her strangely before James suddenly crowed out "You remember _that?_"

She gave a one-shouldered shrug, "I thought I explained that? Sirius, godfather, Remus, professor, third year – I thought we went through that?"

"Maybe it's taken some things from our world and screwed everything up," Remus hummed thoughtfully, "Interesting."

"Ugh, I don't know why I even bother with you lot!" she growled, walking through the house to get back to the front door. "In fact, I don't know why I bother with anyone from here! I should just throw myself off a building; see if that will help any."

"Wait, Hermione," James had dashed after her, grabbing her wrist and looking at her pleadingly. "Come on. Please? I'm sorry. But this is extremely hard on us – especially me. We're having to go back all the way to square one with you basically overnight. It'll take us some time before we're cooperative. Okay?"

"That makes sense," she admitted, although she did this in a mumble and with a frown.

"Alright," he smiled back, glad with the progress, "I'll take you home in a bit, okay? Padfoot always manages to steal something from me every time we visit, and this time I have to figure out what it is." He grinned when Hermione gave a small laugh, looking rather proud of this fact, before he went off in search of his friend. Not five minutes later, Sirius walked up to her, grabbed her hand and slapped James's watch into her palm.

"He really needs to keep his guard up," he said with a sigh, rolling his eyes and walking the way he came as Hermione blinked after him.

"First full day in the seventies – decidedly strange," Hermione hummed to herself.


	3. Time Warp

_"Hermione, darling, what were you two doing?" her mother asked curiously, a small smile on her face as she brushed back a few golden curls that slipped as she stooped down to the smaller being. This smaller being was covered in dirt and mud, and looked positively grimy, but was beaming back at her with her friend, who looked in the same state, but was happy as well. _

_"Hunting buried treasure," Hermione said excitedly, her little curls bouncing a little. _

_"Like in the story books," the little boy said as Hermione's mother tried to stop herself from cooing and cuddling the both of them for being so adorable. _

_"We're adventurers now, Mummy," Hermione said in the utmost serious tone a four year old could muster. _

_Her mother donned the same expression, although the corner of her mouth twitched, "Are you really? That sounds very dangerous."_

_"It is," Hermione's friend piped up. _

_"Well, Hermione, if you leave and never come back, I'd be awfully upset, as would your father," she said, kneeling down in front of her as this new idea seemed to dawn on her. "And I'm sure Remus's parents would feel the same."_

_"Oh," Hermione said, looking thoughtful for a moment, before looking back to her mother. "I'll promise to be home before dinner every night."_

_She chuckled and pecked her on the cleanest area of her face, "Sounds alright to me."_

"Wake up, sleepy head! The earth says hello!"

Hermione groaned and tugged the pillow over her head, hearing two different chuckling voices as she thought of a way she could kick Sirius off without too much effort. When she couldn't figure out a way to do this, she simply muffled out, "Why am I surrounded by cheery morning people?"

"Oh, no, I'm not a morning person," Sirius announced, still on top of her bed, "No, I tell everyone to piss off until someone's given me some form of energy, like caffeine or sugar. Or both!"

"God help the poor soul that gives you both," Hermione said, moving the pillow and frowning at him as he bounced a little, humming to himself as he looked up at the ceiling. She sat up and crossed her legs, glancing to James and Remus at the door before grinning at Sirius. "Having fun?"

"Yup," he said simply before he gave a yelp, nearly crashing into the wall as Hermione kicked him over the footboard. James and Remus simply laughed as he pouted, cradling his injured arm.

"Jesus, Prongs, why'd you pick her?" Sirius cried, making Hermione glare at him as he stood. "Oy, don't give me that look. It's been a week and you still haven't come to terms with it."

Hermione grimaced as she ran a hand through her hair. It had, indeed, been a week, and James was ready to hit himself in the head repeatedly with a wall. They still tried to reason with Hermione that they weren't dreamed up so that they could begin trying to get her to remember her memories, but she would always shoot their explanations down, leaving them to come up with something for the next day. Hermione understood she was being positively stubborn and a little bit rude, but she was confused and she absolutely _hated_ being confused. It put her in a foul mood, and nothing but the answers would help. The problem was that she had no idea where to look for the answers.

"Come on, we're going to start on the exercises Doctor Frank N. Furter assigned," James said before hearing Hermione's small snort and looking over to see that she was grinning.

"Please tell me that is not his real name," she grinned a little bit wider.

"Oh, no, I forgot," he said before smiling, "You remember _Rocky Horror Picture Show_?"

"How anyone could forget that movie is beyond me," she chuckled as she stood, sighing and rolling her eyes. "Fine, we'll do Doctor Transvestite's exercises."

"What kind of movies do you two watch?" Sirius asked loudly as James shoved him out of the room behind Remus, grinning to Hermione before he shut the door.

* * *

"This is unbelievably, undeniably _lame._"

"I have to agree with Hermione on this one, Moony," James hummed as Hermione slid further on the park bench, pouting at the sun as it started to set. "I really don't see how this is going to help."

"Well, he said that even the smallest thing could bring a memory back," Remus shrugged, "Being in a park could help."

"I don't think I have ever really sat down and 'been' in a park since my adult life," Hermione stated, "I don't know what could possibly be here that could trigger anything."

"Well, in any case – nice view," Sirius said, smiling down the hill before turning back around and frowning. James and Hermione were about as far away as possible from each other, Hermione's leg acting as a barrier somehow as she propped her foot on the end of the bench, James's arm bending at the elbow so that his fingertips wouldn't accidentally touch her. "Merlin, how awkward could you get? You're _dating_."

"Yeah, but Hermione does not remember that and – therefore – could possibly kick me," James pointed out as Remus rolled his eyes. "Now, we haven't been kicked by Hermione in a while and I can only remember that I did not enjoy it."

"When did I ever kick you?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Third year. Long story. Point is I deserved it," James said with a shrug.

"Anything?" Remus asked, cutting into this new conversation.

"Mmmn…no," she hummed dully before tilting her head at Remus curiously as he huffed. "You said we were neighbors before, right?"

"Before I got bitten – yes," he nodded absentmindedly, checking over the sheet.

"Were we ever…and I know this will sound barmy, but – were we ever adventurers?"

Remus froze before looking up slowly from the paper, looking at her with an eyebrow arched as James and Sirius glanced between each other and their friends. "Do you remember what we were looking for?"

"Buried treasure, like in story books," she said, not missing a beat, "We were covered in dirt and mud and my mum looked as if she could hug us both."

Remus began to grin, "When did you remember that?"

She scrunched up her face, thinking, playing with her shoelaces, "Last night. It took longer to remember because Sirius jumped on me and then I hummed songs from _Rocky Horror_ when I was getting ready."

"Well what brought it on, then?" Remus asked curiously.

"Do I _look_ like I know?" she arched an eyebrow at him.

"Geez, you're sassy," Sirius said with a few blinks, eyebrows raised. "I only think you were like this in fourth year."

"Nah, fifth year too," James said with a soft hum as he scratched his jaw, "You don't remember much because you got hit in the head with a Bludger at the end of the year, remember?"

"Oh yeah," he grinned a little. "I miss playing Quidditch. We should take Hermione playing Quidditch."

"Hah!" Hermione barked a laugh and smirked, "Nice try. I'm afraid of heights."

"Damn," James sighed, "With her arm, we might've actually won if she hadn't remembered that."

Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head, scoffing a little as Remus rolled up the paper and handed it to James.

"We can try again tomorrow," he said, ignoring Hermione's groans, "See if Lily has any ideas as well, considering she is still Hermione's best friend. If push comes to shove, we can take her to St. Mungo's."

"_Hell_ no," Hermione glared slightly at him as he blinked, surprised that she'd had an input to this, "I am not going back into another hospital unless there is blood gushing profusely and nobody knows how to stop it."

"No, I won't go there," Sirius said with a slight grin, mostly to himself, making Hermione blink curiously at him before shaking her head at this.

"Look, what if I _don't_ remember?" Hermione asked. _If there really was anything to remember at all,_ she added mentally. "What if you're all just wasting your time?"

"Hermione," James began, "We're your friends, we want you to get better and remember the same things we do."

There was a small silence that Sirius eventually felt the need to fill, "Also, you're kind of dating James. I bet he'd like for you to remember that. I mean, a bloke can only take so long before he needs to get la – oof!"

They watched as Remus grabbed his shoulder and shoved him down the hill, James and Hermione standing and watching as he rolled down it with many obscenities. There were a few moments of complete silence, during which Sirius continued to cuss, before Hermione turned brightly to Remus and said, "Do it again!"


	4. Population Control

"Jesus _Christ_, can't I get a normal person to wake me up in the morning?" Hermione asked, as she had woken up to Sirius with his chin set on the edge of the mattress, staring at her with large eyes. She threw a pillow at him as she sat up, although he laughed and bounced on his toes.

"Come on, time to get ready, we're trying something new today," Sirius prompted.

Hermione huffed and hugged the extra pillow to her chest, looking up at him dully, "I'm just waiting for you guys to give up, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, but that's not going to happen," he stated before walking out of the room carrying the pillow she'd thrown. She watched him curiously before finally standing and walking to the open door, seeing Sirius give a large grin towards her before climbing on top of James's sleeping body on the couch, grip the pillow with both hands, and hold it over James's face. Within a matter of seconds – during which Hermione had rushed forward – James kicked him off and sat up with a gulp of air, cursing him as he cackled.

"Fuck, Padfoot!" he yelled, looking in his general direction, as he didn't have his glasses on, "No wonder you and Moony live together – it's for the safety of the general public! Or at least me!"

"Where is Remus?" Hermione asked curiously, making James blink and begin to look around for his glasses.

"Full moon's coming up – he gets sicker towards it," James stated before finally huffing, "Alright – where's my glasses?" Hermione grabbed them off of the coffee table and handed them wordlessly to him, making him put them on, blink, and grin up at her. "Nice hair."

"Same to you," she smiled back, heading back towards her room as he started to run his fingers through his mussed up hair.

Sirius waited a few moments before sitting where James's feet had previously been, looking at his friend curiously as he continued to try to fix his hair, "Why are you sleeping on the couch?"

"Because I'm giving Hermione the room," he explained.

"Why not transfigure a closet or something then?"

"For one reason, we actually use the closet. For another, I'm pretty sure our landlord would be pissed. Lastly – I want to be here in case she needs me."

"Why would she need you?"

"Like, in case her head hurts again or…" he stopped himself, looking down at the pillow Sirius had smothered him with and absentmindedly scratching at a spot on the fabric.

"In case she remembers?" Sirius asked, making him nod slowly.

"It sucks, you know?" James asked, picking his knees up and setting his elbows on them, "Because she is still here, but it's not her. I mean, it is her – still the quirks, mannerisms, opinions, it's all there – just not the memories and the feelings that go with them. And she did remember some things – like with Moony when they were younger, and a few days ago she remembered that Tommy Langdon had turned her hair green in first year."

"But she's not remembering the things you want her to remember – stuff with us and mainly you," Sirius continued for him.

"Right. Right now, she is skeptical and wary. Of me. Her boyfriend," James gave a loud sigh, "Like I said, it sucks."

"I don't disagree," he said.

Hermione bit her lip before quietly shutting the door, looking around the room and rubbing her arms. She had known, of course, that she and James had apparently lived together. But she'd been able to ignore the fact that they might've shared a room. It made being in there awkward now, like she wasn't meant to be there and that she should leave. She sighed and took off her shirt, grabbing one from the closet and towing it on before blinking down at it. It was rather large, and so she took it off and inspected the tag at the back, which stated that it had been made for men. With a grimace, she tossed it back in the closet and grabbed a different shirt, which was hopefully made for females, as it had a light floral print. She grabbed a pair of jeans and some trainers before heading back out into the living room, where James's hair was in a far better state, and he had different clothes on.

"So, what are we trying today?" Hermione asked from an armchair, tying the laces on one shoe.

"Well, we've asked a girl from school to come over – she might be able to help," James stated.

"What's her name?" Hermione questioned.

"Mara Louise," Sirius said, but shared a glance with James. She arched an eyebrow at the exchange, but said nothing.

A few hours later, a young woman Flooed in, wearing a cheery smile and holding a massive leather bound book. She had pale blonde hair that was in large ringlets, her dress prim and proper and with lace, her heels rather high, and Hermione immediately did not like her.

"Oh, Hermione," she cooed, dropping the book and donning a look of sympathy as she rushed to her, hugging her from the armchair as she stiffened, "Poor baby! Sirius told me what happened and I knew right away that I had to help!"

"Uhm…okay," Hermione said, easing away from her and looking at her worriedly, as she had gotten the cheery smile back.

"Now, come sit over here with Mary Lou, and we'll fix you right up!" she said, grabbing the book and sitting on the couch, patting the space next to her before she turned to finding the right page. Hermione turned over to James and Sirius, who were hiding in the kitchen, and mouthed '_Mary Lou?_' to them, making them grin and duck back behind the counter. "I am so glad that I took pictures during school! Now, this one is from second year, at Halloween."

_"I can't stand her," Hermione huffed with a pout, "Why the entire school population seems to like her is beyond me."_

_"Ahh, no, you are wrong," Sirius said, making her look over at him from the pale blonde pigtails – who their friends were currently talking to – as he waved his fork for emphasis, "No, James and I detest her with every fiber of our very beings."_

_"It's true," James nodded eagerly, "We'd love nothing more than something horrible to happen to her."_

_"Well, except maybe us causing that something horrible to happen to her," Sirius hummed dully, making Hermione grin and go back to eating. "We've tried numerous times, of course."_

_"But, sadly, they never happen, no matter how many times we've tried," James sighed, grinning when Hermione laughed. _

_"I also don't understand why the entire female population of Hogwarts seems to like you two so much, considering that you're only two scrawny fourth years," Hermione teased._

_"Oy! We are not scrawny, we play Quidditch!" Sirius argued, making her grin wider. _

_"You said 'the entire female population of Hogwarts,' and you are female, so…" James smirked when Hermione froze for a moment, a few spaghetti noodles sticking out of her mouth before she quickly chewed and swallowed them before looking at him dully._

_"McGonagall is female," she stated, making him and Sirius squawk as she laughed loudly back at them._

"And this one is whenever Tonna Jaylor punched Michael in the face – you can see the blood from his nose right there, see? And then there's – "

_"Is it possible to hate somebody so much?" Hermione hummed, staring up at the ceiling as a few sighs were heard, a couple of chuckles as well, one extremely close to her. "She just talks and talks and talks. And it's never anything too intelligent."_

_"Well, a lot of the boys seem to like her," somebody said, a voice she couldn't name quite yet. _

_"Gee, I wonder why," someone close murmured, making her snort and sit up before turning back around to grin at James, scooting to his side as they grinned madly at one another._

_"Oh, enough from you two – three if we count Sirius," Lily huffed, "Mara Louise has never done anything to you, and – "_

_"Told McGonagall on us," James and Sirius chorused. _

_"Tried to give me hair advice," Hermione deadpanned. _

_"Made me nearly fail in Potions," Sirius announced._

_"Corrected me on my notes in Divination and caused me to fail the test," James stated. _

_"Turned everything in my closet pink!" Hermione growled. _

_"Aww, you looked cute in pink," James said, trying to mimic Mara Louise's tone of voice. _

_"I can't stand an overabundance of pink," Hermione groaned, flopping her head back into James's lap with a huff, "Thank Merlin she's in Hufflepuff."_

"Hermione? Hermione, darling? Are you alright? Oh, James, I didn't know you were here!"

Hermione blinked and looked around, seeing James kneeling by her side and looking worriedly at her as Mara Louise sat by her with her scrapbook. "Uhm – yeah, fine. Just kind of – ahh. I think I had something to do with Lily today. Excuse me." She stood and swept her hair back, walking past Mara Louise and opening the front door to step into the hallway. She picked a direction and began to walk, breathing deeply with her hand in her hair before she gave a startled scream, looking up at James as he looked down at her.

"You okay?" he questioned.

"Uhm – maybe," she frowned and shut her eyes for a moment before looking back at him, studying him warily in silence before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "At lunch or dinner or something, and for some reason I'm assuming Remus and Lily were talking to her. Fourth year – I said something like 'the entire female population of Hogwarts' and you got arrogant and I reminded you that McGonagall was a female." She glanced back at him again and found that he was smiling. "A-and we were all sitting in the common room and I said I didn't know why people liked her and you said that all the boys do and – my head was in your lap? I wasn't – I don't – I can't…."

"Hermione, Hermione, calm down," James soothed, grabbing her shoulders and looking into her face, rubbing circles into her shoulders with his thumbs as she looked back at him. "You're just freaking out. This is the first time this has happened while you're awake, and this is the first time it's given you two different memories. It's perfectly alright to freak out, but it is okay. You're okay. I promise."

"Alright," she said carefully, stepping away and running her hands through her hair before shooting him a fleeting smile, "Thank you."

"No, thank you," he grinned when she looked up at him in confusion. "The only reason we had Mary Lou come is because we knew you hate her. We wanted to see if there was any way you'd remember things that weren't tied with people you would see on a daily basis. I still hate her, so I'm quite happy to leave her with Padfoot."

Hermione gave a laugh as they headed down the stairs, making James chuckle as well.


	5. If There's a Will, There's a Way

_"Hermione Jean Granger!"_

_"Shit," Hermione cursed, scrambling for the stairs and giving a loud scream when an arm wrapped around her waist and picked her up, carrying her as she squirmed to plop her on the couch and look fearfully up at Sirius. He glared down at her as she grimaced before grinning sheepishly, "Hiya, Padfoot."_

_"What the hell?" he asked loudly, making her clutch her hair and stall a little before rushing into it._

_"Well how was I supposed to know she wasn't Cynthia I've never met Cynthia and you never said that you broke up with Cynthia so why the hell are you getting mad at me?" she asked as he continued to frown at her. _

_"Well thanks to you, Brooke just dumped me," he glared._

_She snorted, "Give it a week, tell her I'm slow, she'll get over it."_

_"I can't tell people you're slow, Hermione, you're like a fucking genius, and everyone knows it," he stated as he walked up the stairs. _

_She sat in silence for a few moments before calling up them, "Was that a compliment?_"

"Oh, you should've told me Mara Louise was here yesterday!" Lily pouted as Hermione blinked before glancing dully over at James, who had his small grin hidden behind a mug. "I've been meaning to congratulate her on her marriage!"

"Who's she married to?" Hermione asked dully, taking a sip from her coffee.

"Joshua Brown," Lily answered, gasping when Hermione dropped the mug and most of the coffee spilled down her shirt, making her hiss and take a few steps back before the liquid vanished and the mug set itself back on the counter.

"What's with you and mugs – what have they done to you?" James asked her curiously as he put his wand back in his back pocket.

"Hermione, is something the matter?" Lily asked curiously before brightening, "Did you remember something?"

"Earlier, yes, but – did you say Brown? So her name is Mara Louise Brown, and if she has a kid then their last name is Brown?"

"That's generally how marriages go, yes," James stated slowly.

"It makes so much fucking sense," Hermione exclaimed, making them blink at her and then at each other. "In what you two find as my illusory world, there was this girl named Lavender Brown that I simply hated. Explains so much."

James chuckled, "Even when your mind checks out, you still find people to hate."

"I never did understand why you hated Mara Louise," Lily began before Hermione stopped her.

"No, hate – as in, present tense," Hermione corrected as Lily huffed, making James grin wider.

"You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar," Lily sang, making Hermione roll her eyes.

"Thank you, oh wise Fortune Cookie," she deadpanned, blinking when James snorted and began to cough, as he'd been taking a drink when she'd said that. Lily glared at him as he only grinned back.

"Sorry," he said airily, although smiled over at Hermione, "Allergies."

* * *

"Uhm – is this legal?" Hermione asked worriedly, looking around carefully.

"Uhh," three voices chorused as Lily gave a small whimper and checked back behind them to make sure no one else was following. It was well into the night, so much so that most things were closed, and James, Sirius and Remus had told the two that they were going to take a trip in an effort to jog Hermione's memory. This trip involved breaking into the local theatre, making the two girls glance worriedly at one another as they walked carefully through the dark.

"We have clearance, so long as the right person's here," James's voice called out.

"And if the wrong person's here?" Hermione questioned.

"Run like hell," Sirius quipped.

"Sounds good," Hermione hummed, although Lily was making a strange choking sound. "Quick question – who is the right person?"

"Me!" Hermione blinked as a bright light was shined into her face, grimacing a little at the light, and also at Lily – who had grabbed her shoulder in the event that they should run and had accidentally dug her nails in a little too hard. The light moved slightly and Hermione could see a rather tall individual, with dark shaggy hair and glasses that reflected the light. He stepped closer so that Hermione could see him a little better, looking rather worried as James stepped up to him. "Hey, Kiddo. James told me what happened – you hurt your noggin pretty bad, huh?"

"Hermione, this is Will," Remus explained, "He's really good friends with us, although he didn't go to school with us."

"Oh," Hermione nodded as Will grinned wider and gave a small bow.

"William Jarvis, at your service, m'lady," he smiled as he stood straighter, "Now, let's get you your memory back."

* * *

"Anything?" Will called for the seventeenth time, and Hermione sighed and continued to watch the screen.

"Nope," she called back, making him huff and mutter to himself as the slide changed.

Apparently a lot of pictures had been taken with a Muggle camera over the years, and the four had scrounged together to hunt for the pictures and put them on a slide so Hermione could see. Will, who ran the film at the theatre, had been quite eager to help.

Although, to Hermione, it just seemed like a dream she couldn't remember.

"Is _anything_ happening?" Will asked, irritated that this wasn't the quick fix like he'd thought. "Like, do you feel the need to sneeze or something?"

"N – " Hermione began before she froze entirely, eyes wide and mouth popped open, making James sit up and look over at her.

"Hermione?" he asked as Sirius cautiously waved a hand in front of her face, showing that she didn't respond. Remus waved to Will, who shut off the slides and turned on the lights as James carefully placed his hand on hers and moved to kneel in front of her.

"Oh," Hermione said, blinking and finishing her sentence, coming back to life, frowning a little before glaring at Sirius as she stood. "What did you do when we were thirteen that made me so mad?"

James brightened as Lily laughed a little, smiling as she recognized Hermione's infamous 'mad-at-you-but-unsure-what-you-did' face.

"He made your hair come to life," she supplied quietly.

"You _WHAT?_"

"Hey, it was a combined effort!" Sirius yelled back, pointing at James, who shrunk a little at her glare before spreading his hands a little, as if spreading out evidence.

"Hey, I was thirteen! I barely recognized the fact that I was starting to like you – for some strange reason, I thought that would be the best way to get your attention!"

"He didn't admit it until the end of fourth though," Remus hummed with a slight grin.

"This is true," James nodded after a moment, as if he'd been thinking about it.

"Hey – she better now?" Will asked, coming down the steps two at a time.

"Well, she remembered something – we still have no idea what triggers these things," Remus explained with a sigh.

"They seem to be at random," Lily said.

"Huh," Will said thoughtfully before turning to Hermione curiously, "You haven't got a Nano chip implanted in your brain, have you?"

"What? No," Hermione blinked.

"Oh," he said with a small pout, "If you did, I would've been able to get it out."

"Uhh, let me guess – movie?" Sirius asked.

"How'd you know?" he asked, turning to Sirius and blinking as Hermione gave Lily a distressed expression.

"Lucky guess," Sirius said with a shrug and a grin.


	6. Miss Granger is No Stranger to Danger

**EDIT: **Freaking italics in places where they're not supposed to be. By the way - totally not my fault, it was a technological snafu.

* * *

"Hey," Sirius said dully, glancing at Hermione as she walked into the room before turning his attention back onto the television screen.

"Hey," she responded, sitting on the opposite end of the couch from him, taking one look at the screen before brightening, "Oh, Doctor Who! What is this – Logopolis, Part One?"

Sirius looked over at her and frowned, "Yeah, it's a new episode."

"Oh? My dad and I used to watch this one, said he liked the 'cloister bell' part," Hermione hummed.

"Hermione, this is a new episode," Sirius said with a very stern expression on his face, "You can't have possibly – "

"Shh," she commanded, making him roll his eyes and lean into the arm rest, watching the screen. In a few moments, Hermione pointed at the screen and stated, "Now."

"What?" Sirius asked, but she cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"_Look, whenever you see me in this part of the TARDIS, pacing up and down like this, be a good chap and don't interrupt me, will you, unless it's terribly urgent? It's not terribly urgent, is it?_" the Doctor asked his companion.

"_Well, no_," Adric answered.

"_So now you know. In fact, there's no need for you to come barging in here at all. If it is terribly urgent you could always ring the cloister bell_."

"Cloister bell," Hermione said rather smugly, looking over at Sirius and blinking as he looked at her curiously. She slid back and arched an eyebrow, a small frown on her face as Sirius opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"Alright, we're ready," Remus said, tugging on his coat as Sirius slowly rose from the couch, giving her that look once more before heading towards his coat.

"You'll be fine, won't you?" James asked Hermione.

"No, James, I won't be fine with having the flat all to myself with a moment of quiet," she said dully before rolling her eyes, "Go, have fun, don't get into too much trouble."

He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and grabbed his jacket, saying goodbye and walking out of the front door. Hermione gave a happy sigh and clicked the television off with a flick of her wand before setting it on the table next to her, sliding down the couch and allowing her hair to spread out behind her. She knew that the boys only wanted to help her, and sometimes she thought it was rather sweet, although some days it felt rather suffocating.

After a while of enjoying the silence, Hermione shut her eyes and let her breathing even out.

_"Whoa – watch it!" Hermione exclaimed, frowning slightly at the lanky body that had dived over her legs to grab at a snitch. He laughed, flicking his hair out of his face and giving her a brilliant grin as he sat up, holding the small fluttering golden orb in his hands. Once he shot her a charming grin, the frown dissipated slightly and was replaced with a small smile, although an eyebrow arched. "James Potter," she began._

_"Hermione Granger," he mimicked, lying slightly by her side, holding the snitch in one hand as his fingers traced the wings. It was a warm day, and Hermione had planned to spend it underneath a large tree overlooking the lake (where the Giant Squid was happily splashing around) with a book. However, James had seen this and had been quite eager to ruin her plans, thus releasing the snitch and making sure it went towards her before dashing after it._

_"Why you enjoy one sport so much is beyond me," she stated as he blinked over at her. _

_"And why you don't like that one sport as much as me is something I think about often," he hummed dully, "I often wonder if I should dump you."_

_"Over Quidditch?" she asked incredulously, although he gave a cheeky grin and deposited the snitch in his pocket, scooting up by her side and towering over her a little bit. His grin was rather infectious, but she leaned away a little and scooted her book out of the way. _

_"No," he said slowly, getting closer, "Over how ticklish you are!" _

_"No!" she laughed, allowing herself to be curled up in the grass, James's arms wrapped around her torso as he poked and prodded, making her laugh loudly, even after the attack had stopped and he was soundly kissing her on the side of her head. _

_"Barmy girl," he laughed, "As if I would ever break up with you."_

_"Well, that is good news," she hummed. "Although, I can't make the same promise." She laughed once again, this time at the dark frown on James's face before he stuck his tongue out childishly at her._

When Hermione woke up, it was slow, like she was slowly being pulled to consciousness, somebody standing above and pulling her up into coherency with a large rope tied around her middle. Something hard was underneath her stomach and chest, and it was very uncomfortable. The back of her head hurt, as well as her shoulder, and her shirt at the back felt rather sticky and warm. She opened her eyes slowly before sitting up quickly, gaping at the darkness and the hard stone floor, and the big wide arch that was a wall and a ceiling.

"_Shit,_" Hermione cursed with a sigh. She stood slowly, brushing off the seat of her pants and wiping her palms down her legs before checking her pockets for her wand. Finding nothing, she placed a hand on the wall, finding it smooth and cold, much like a cave, and walked slowly towards what she hoped would be an opening.

Hermione was no stranger to being put in dark, unwelcoming places against her will. It had happened often enough that the 'how' and the 'why' only came afterwards – after she found out the 'who' and gave them a 'what for.' Although, as it had been a few years for her, she couldn't help but feel worried and anxious, as she didn't even have her wand. She pushed the panic and fear aside, maintaining a brave face, although if her lower lip wasn't split slightly, she would've been biting it.

After what felt like ages had passed, feeble rays of light stretched for her, making her duck down and slip behind the cover of a cluster of rocks.

Shadows danced on the cave wall – and it was indeed a cave, as the mouth of it was standing a few feet from the small cluster of Death Eaters, showing the night sky through the cover of heavy rain.

There were two large men who seemed to have only have of a brain between them, watching as a skinnier man slowly carved a piece of wood with a pocket knife, a woman with large, dark curls dancing around the small fire, a wand twirling through her fingers.

"You're in a good mood," the skinnier man observed, inspecting his carved wood before grabbing his wand, flicking it at it to make it whole again, and setting his wand behind him – right in front of Hermione, only inches away.

"We've found the Mudblood – the Dark Lord will be pleased," she hummed back, a small smile on her face.

"Wha're we goin' ah do wiff 'er?" one of the large men asked.

"Take her to the Dark Lord," the woman stated plainly, "As we were told to do."

"Then wha're we wai'in' foh?" the second asked.

"For the rain to die down," the skinny man said, "And for her to wake up."

"We want to hear the Mudblood scream," the woman said, the tone of her voice cold. Hermione held her breath and waited for the woman – who was most obviously Bellatrix – to turn her back and the two men – who must've been Crabbe and Goyle's ancestors – to watch her before she darted out and grabbed the carver's wand and hexed him unconscious, petrifying the two slow men before she felt the air leave her lungs and her body protest as she fell to her knees. "Well, it appears this Mudblood doesn't scream. Let's try a little harder. _Crucio!_"

Hermione gritted her teeth and arched her back, head thrown back as she felt sharp nails graze her scalp. She glared up at Bellatrix as she smirked back. As the mad woman opened her mouth for another spell, Hermione pointed the wand up at her face and spat out "_Avada Kedavra_, bitch." She shakily stood once Bellatrix's body crumpled and fell, looking around before darting out of the cave, running as fast and as far as her legs could take her.

"You there, freeze!" a gruff voice announced over the wind, making her turn around and point the wand over at him as a light shined on her.

"Hermione?" two curious voices chorused, a startled one moving forward to show that he was a very wet and cold James Potter, stepping closer with his arms moving towards her before she pointed the wand closer towards him.

"First thing I said when you told me I had a night to think of questions," Hermione demanded harshly, "Now, James."

"Ahh," James blinked, "Uhh – that you had too many questions as it was, and that I shouldn't give you an opportunity to think of more."

Hermione released a breath and lowered the wand, looking up at him pleadingly as he moved towards her, a hand on her shoulder and a hand on her chin, looking over her for further injuries. She moved past him and turned to Sirius, who looked as if his hair was giving him a hard time. "Sirius, I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked worriedly as her lower lip wobbled.

"I – I killed your cousin," she said in a strained voice as he froze.

"You bitch!" he exclaimed, making her flinch back into James's hold before he barked a small laugh, "I've always wanted to do that!" He reached forward and pulled her into a hug, being careful of her injuries, muttering into her ear, "Good God, Granger, don't let that happen again. Losing you once was bad enough for him."

"C'mon," the gruff voice announced, making her look over and blink at Mad Eye Moody, sans the mad eye, "Let's get you back to base. I don't think we'll need the raid tonight."


	7. Hot Mess

"What _happened_ to you?" Remus asked as an older woman Hermione didn't know dried her off with a spell and draped a blanket over her, patting her shoulder with a soft smile before bustling off.

"I don't know," Hermione said, picking her feet up and wrapping the blanket tighter around her, staring at him with large eyes. "I fell asleep – I think I had a memory, and that's when they got me. I woke up and – and…." Hermione had spent those two years in the nineties trying to forget a majority of what she'd done in the war. If it would've helped, she would've gladly Obliviated herself. But the Battle, and the night at Malfoy Manor, had done more things to her dreams than she cared to admit. And going through it again…she was shaken.

James was rubbing her back, slowly and carefully, as if she protested his hand would be gone in a second. Sirius could only watch them with his clasped hands covering his mouth, his eyebrows furrowed as the silence ticked on, Remus staring off into the distance and thinking.

"What I want to know," Moody said as he clunked his way into the room, standing in front of the fireplace and watching Hermione carefully, "Is why they took you."

"I think I know that one," Sirius said grimly, turning slightly to them, but looking up at Moody. "We were sitting on the couch before we came here for the raid. Watching this Muggle television show – new episode, we're like halfway in, I think, and she blurts out the next line. Says she and her dad watched it all the time. But it's the first time it's ever been on."

"So you're saying Death Eaters wanted me because I know the lines from Doctor Who?" Hermione asked incredulously, James snorting beside her and rolling his eyes, a slight grin on his face.

"Well, not necessarily," Remus hummed, "Hermione, didn't you say you were a major part in the war in your – err, 'reality'?"

"Yes – and the air quotes were unnecessary," she frowned at him as he grinned sheepishly. "There were three of us that were majorly involved with taking down the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself."

"You know how to take Ol' Snakey?" Moody asked with renewed interest.

"I don't like where this is going," James announced as he stood, "Hermione isn't – "

"Going to let you decide what I do or don't do," Hermione frowned at him as she stood as well. "James, it's my body and my mind, and therefore my decision!"

"Hermione, you can't just - !" James began.

"OY! Do _not_ make the werewolf mad!" Remus yelled, making them blink over at them as he huffed and stood, standing between the two, "Stop arguing and speak like calm, civilized beings, alright? Hermione, it is your decision, and you really do hold the power to stop Voldemort, and so the sooner this is over with, the better." He turned to James now, "James, if Hermione is our source of information, then she'll have to be better protected. Make sense? Good." He sighed and walked back over to his chair, flopping down in it and shaking his head at Moody. "Honestly, why these people tend to be difficult towards full moons is beyond me."

"Aww, come on!" Sirius whined and pouted, "I wanted to see Hermione take down James."

"Sirius," the three admonished, although Moody took his cane – which was probably to help him get used to his leg being missing – and gave him a good whack across the back of the head with it.

* * *

"Ow, ow – Lily!"

"Stand still and this will go better," Lily murmured quietly, focused on the task of fixing Hermione's shoulder. They'd managed to fix her lip and any other small injuries, but getting to her shoulder was harder. Hermione couldn't reach, and she wasn't about to let any of the boys see her without a shirt on, so they'd Floo'd Lily. And there she was, standing in the basement of a safe house – which had claw marks on nearly every surface, and broken furniture, suggesting that Remus frequented this basement on certain nights – without a shirt and holding on to her hair with one hand. "I don't know why you didn't just let the boys do this. I was having a good dream too."

"Because – I'd really rather not have them see me in my bra," Hermione answered.

"You know, James has seen you entirely naked before," she hummed dully, blinking when she noticed Hermione tense and freeze, her face slowly turning red. "Ooh, sorry, I'm sleep deprived – I don't have a filter."

_"Soooo – have you two done it?"_

_"Has anyone ever told you you're weirdly perverted?" Hermione asked in amusement, making Lily snort and roll her eyes, sitting up on her knees, ignoring the hard cement digging into her legs. It was a bright, summer day, and the two girls had gone outside in an attempt to bring color to their new home with the help of flora – but once they'd sat down on the porch steps to figure out which flowers would go where, they'd decided that they were lazy and it was best to do it later. _

_"Come on," Lily whined, rolling onto her back, her face tilted towards her friend, "I'm single – live life for me?"_

_"So you want to live vicariously through me…Lily, are you interested in my boyfriend?" Hermione asked, squinting at her, but grinning when her hand reached up and slapped her thigh. _

_"No, I want a boyfriend that isn't James," she sniffed, "James is a slimy git, no offense." _

_"Oh, gee, none taken," Hermione said drily. _

_"Okay, let me rephrase," Lily said, "James is a slimy git to me. He turned my hair yellow in third year. Like, Sticky-Note yellow. Slimy. Git. Anyway – you need to get laid."_

_"Says who?"_

_"Well…" Lily faltered, "I do."_

_"Hah – not good enough," Hermione grinned. _

_"Okay – you have this wonderful, doting boyfriend, and you obviously love each other very much. Seal the freaking deal already. We're out of school, we are young, and you two are in love, so have sex. You are getting ready to be an eighteen year old virgin in a few months."_

_"Oh yeah? You already are," Hermione countered, blinking when she noticed that Lily was quiet. She looked over at her and saw that she was staring up at the awning, lips pursed and looking anywhere but at her. "Lily…you are, aren't you?"_

_She grimaced before shooting her a feeble grin, "I might've met a guy at a concert before sixth year..." _

_Hermione gaped at her, "You. Freaking. Slut."_

_"Shut up!" Lily crowed as Hermione laughed._

Hermione blinked, coming back to the present before she grinned, "A guy at a concert, really, Lily? I thought you had more taste than that."

"Oh shut up about that, that's why I never told you in the first pla – oh, you remembered!" Lily beamed, handing Hermione her shirt before she threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly, making Hermione laugh a little.


	8. Whatever World

"Hermione, look, I just want you to stay safe," James insisted, making her purse her lips before turning around and frowning back at him, hands on her hips as he crossed his arms over his chest. They'd kept off of that topic while Moody talked about battle tactics and plans and raids and whatnot, but as soon as they'd stepped through the door, James was sure to make that clear and attempt to change her mind – although he knew, of course, that no such thing would happen.

"James, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she declared as he rolled his eyes.

"I understand that, but – Hermione, you may not remember it, but I care very much about you," he stated, looking at her pleadingly.

"Alright, and maybe I care about you, but this isn't about safety or who cares about who – this is about stopping a dark and demented person from gaining power," she glared, "And if you are going to step in the way of that, then – "

"Hermione, will you stop being so stubborn and listen?" he interrupted, "Ever since you woke up, you've been so stubborn, and we're only trying to _help_."

"Maybe I don't _need_ your help," she stood straighter, "Maybe I don't _want_ your help!"

"Hermione, you belong _here_!"

"Says who? You? That's not good enough, James!"

"You've been remembering! You remembered Moony and Mara Louise!"

"Fine, I remembered – " she stopped and blinked at him, making him pause and think that she was remembering something else, but her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth opened slightly before she focused on him again, "I remembered…you."

"Me?" he said hopefully.

"Something about a snitch…."

A corner of his mouth twitched up, giving a crooked grin, "Did I tickle you?"

"Yes," she frowned, head tilted and looking thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"And did I talk about dumping you about your lack of enthusiasm when it came to Quidditch?" he hummed, leaning against the arm rest of the couch and watching as she tried to process that.

"Yes."

"Hermione, Love, we're dating," he said with a charming grin, "I told you from the start."

"You didn't – Lily did," she corrected.

He hesitated before humming, "Fair enough." He arched an eyebrow as she slowly dropped down into the chair, looking worriedly at her as she bit the inside of her cheek. "Hermione?"

"I don't…understand," she muttered. "I can't…nothing makes sense anymore."

"Hermione, it'll be alright," he promised, walking forward and sitting on the armrest of her chair, a hand on her shoulder.

"It at the very least made sense before, but now it…nothing does," she said, picking up her legs and staring at her kneecaps before looking up at James with very big eyes, "Am I going mad?"

"If you were, you would not be 'going' mad," he stated, running a hand through her hair, to which she fidgeted but stayed put, "You've been there and back many times – I often think you spend Christmas vacation there."

"James," she reprimanded with a small smile, making him grin.

"No, I don't think you're mad," he grinned, "I just think you're having a hard time sorting out memories and what's real and what's not. Over time, things will start to make sense again. I promise."

She gave a noncommittal hum, and they sat there in silence for a few minutes, listening to each other's breathing as James's hand sat on the back of Hermione's neck, twirling a curl around on one finger.

"I'm sorry, James," she said, looking up at him once more, "But this is my decision."

He sighed, "Yeah, I know. You have a lot of those, and very rarely can I get you to change your mind about them. But hey – worth a shot, right?"

"I suppose," Hermione grinned before he stood and nodded towards the bedroom door.

"Go get some sleep, Hermione."

"Alright," she stood and nodded, pausing for a moment before wrapping an arm around James's neck and giving him a brief hug, "Good night, James."

He blinked and watched after her before grinning far wider than he should have, "Night, Hermione." He sighed and deflated slightly once the door was shut, "Love you."

* * *

_"Hermione!"_

_"Augh! Friction, traction, why have you forsaken me – oh, ow!"_

_"Yeah, gravity's a bitch, huh?" James goaded as he stood over Hermione as she curled in slightly on her bruised ribs and – more importantly – the paper. Hermione shot a glare up at him before she kicked at his legs, making him squawk and fall on top of her, to which she grimaced and stared wide-eyed up at him, as he was hovering just inches away from her face. While what she thinking of was the paper, the fourteen-year-old boy's thoughts were certainly blush worthy, but that quickly stopped when she stuffed the paper into her mouth and stared back at him._

_"Did you just eat my note?" he asked bluntly._

_"Mo," she muffled before reaching back into her mouth and taking it out, handing it up to Lily, who sprinted away while squeaking out 'ew, gross, Hermione, ugh.' James blinked after her before Hermione pulled herself out from under him, jumped up, and ran screaming down the halls after her friend. James blinked for a few more moments before his brain finally seemed to connect, thus leaving him to jump up and run after them once more. _

"Well, good morning, Queen Bed-Head," Sirius grinned from the table, James lifting his head slightly with a small smile as Hermione looked at him bewilderedly.

"I ate a note?" she questioned, making him squint at her for a moment while Sirius lit up and smacked his friend in the arm.

"She remembers when you started liking her – aww!" he cooed, bouncing in his seat, "How cute!"

James arched an eyebrow at Sirius, Hermione doing the same before the latter finally asked, "Sirius, have you always been so girly?"

He blinked before giving her a dark glare, making her laugh and take a seat next to him at the small table, James right across from her as he looked at her thoughtfully.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, "That was a note I wrote to Monica Benson in fourth year – but, yeah, after that, I did start to like you, but I was in complete and utter denial until the end of fourth, and then fifth year was unimaginable torture for me because you dated Robert Kopecki for a few months. God, I hate that guy. Anyway, we started dating towards the beginning of sixth, when we had prefect duties."

"How the hell did you become a prefect?" Hermione questioned, making James and Sirius grin.

"We still have no idea – and I got Head Boy too, explain that!" James smiled, making Hermione shake her head at him.

"I still think Dumbledore just got bored and wanted you to screw up," Sirius stated with a sniff.

"You're just mad I actually busted you for stuff," James grinned over at him.

"You're my fucking best friend, you couldn't have let me get away with shit?" he asked loudly.

"Oy! Werewolf attempting to die on the couch here!" Remus announced, making Hermione blink and turn back around to blink over at Remus.

"You okay?" Hermione asked.

"No, not when those two are involved," he sighed before sitting up and shooting her a small smile, "I'll be fine though."

She pursed her lips and frowned slightly before jumping up and pacing around the kitchen, "What kind of potions ingredients do we have here?"

"Uh, different kinds – why?" James questioned curiously.

"Okay, in my whatever world, there was this potion called the Wolfsbane potion," Hermione explained, "It would somewhat alleviate the pain towards the full moon, but while the werewolf changed, they would have complete control over their actions. Like, if he wanted to, he could just stay on that couch the entire full moon."

"Are you serious?" Remus asked before pointing at Sirius and glaring at him, "And don't even, Padfoot."

"Nobody lets me do it anymore," he pouted back.

"I'd feel bad about taking credit for it if the guy that came up with it in my mind wasn't such an ass," Hermione shrugged before climbing on top of a counter to search through the cabinets, Sirius placing a hand on her back to steady her as James searched too.

"Well," Sirius said in a clipped tone, "Hermione's really turning into the regular super hero nowadays isn't she?"

"Oh, shut it, Sirius," Hermione huffed, "I'm not a morning person, so I'd play nice if I were you."

"Darling, I'm always nice," he countered.

"Away from my girlfriend, Padfoot," Prongs called from underneath the sink.

"But I'm being a ladder."

"Step away – I'd rather get another head injury than bother with you," Hermione sniffed, making him step away and glare at her back. "And stop glaring at me before I kick you."

"Jesus," Sirius exclaimed to an amused Remus, "Really feeling the love here, guys."

"You shouldn't, because there is none," Remus said cheekily, setting his arms and chin against the back of the couch as Sirius continued to glare at him.


	9. Are You Sleeping?

"Err – I know I might hate myself for asking this, but what _is_ that?"

Hermione looked over her shoulder and blinked before smiling up at Remus, turning back to the cauldron and continuing to stir, "It's the potion."

"Uhh – tell me I inject that or something," he said worriedly, looking at it carefully. "Like, really I'll get over my phobia of needles, it's no problem."

"What? No, you drink it," Hermione frowned back at him.

"Uh, yeah, no, not going to happen," he shook his head at her fervently.

She swiveled on the counter and frowned at him, legs crossed as she squinted, "And why not?"

"Because that looks disgusting and I can't imagine it tasting any better," he said bluntly, hands stuffed in his pockets.

She pursed her lips at him for a few moments before shrugging, "Fine." She grinned when Sirius and James snuck up behind him and tackled him to the ground, laughing as they fought. As this went on for a few minutes, she finished the potion and handed it to Sirius, who had Remus drink it before he kicked them both and glared at them. "Hey, I spent all of that time and effort on it – you were going to drink it one way or the other. You picked the other."

"That tasted like troll feet," he coughed, hitting his head against the tile with a grimace as James stood.

"How would you know what troll feet taste like?" Sirius questioned with a grin as Hermione poured the remaining potion into a container and flicked her wand to clean the kitchen.

"It tasted like what I think troll feet would taste like," Remus hummed, eyes shut as he continued to lie on the floor, "Like gross, evil…bleh." She rolled her eyes, absentmindedly wondering if Remus always got rather childish closer to full moons.

"Last time I ever make a potion for you," Hermione huffed, making James chuckle and put his hands on her waist to pick her up off the counter, causing her blink at this before looking up at him curiously, while he only smirked.

"Give him tonight," James murmured into her ear, "Tomorrow morning he'll be your best friend."

"We'll see," she hummed back.

* * *

Hermione looked up from her book, arching an eyebrow as Remus grinned brightly at her, chin set on her knees, a smirking James in the background. She'd been extremely content with the free evening, as James and Sirius had gone to help Remus with the full moon, and had found a book that she was starting to get addicted to.

"You're like, my favorite person ever, okay?" he said, moving and sitting next to her on the couch as she smiled and shut her book to put it in her lap, "I'm so sorry I said your potion tasted like troll feet. You're beautiful and gorgeous and if James doesn't want you I will gladly take you." She shot him a look and he grinned wider before reaching over and tugging her into him, pecking the top of her head as he hugged her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You owe me money," James sang from the fireplace, "Oh, and also – never going to happen, Lupin."

"Yeah, I figured," he sighed, collapsing against the couch dramatically as Hermione huffed and went to go find money to pay James, shooting him a glare as he grinned cheekily back at her. "Well, you seem in a far better mood," Remus stated once Hermione was gone.

"Hermione's started to acknowledge _this_ as her reality," James grinned happily back as he sat on the arm rest of a chair, "It's not much, but it is something. And Lily's thought about things to make her remember – she's gotten all of these books and stuff too."

"Of course – it's Lily," Remus grinned back.

"What's Lily?" Hermione questioned as she walked back into the living room, handing James the money and looking at them curiously.

"She's studying – she's going to poke your brain," Remus said as he stood and headed to the kitchen.

"Not literally, right?" she hummed, following him to make tea.

"Hopefully not," James called with a small grin.

* * *

"Hermione? Hermione? Are you awake?" James asked softly, gently slipping the book out of her hands and setting it on the coffee table.

They'd been busy all day – Moody had been by to inform them on schedules for the Order, and then had spent at least two hours yelling at James and Sirius for being complete idiots when Sirius had made some comment. Hermione had taught Remus the Wolfsbane potion inside and out, and Lily had been by to rattle off all the ideas she had that might help Hermione get her memory back. James had been working on some reports that Moody had also given him, stating that he had to do something productive, unless he wanted to be unemployed, and had walked back into the living room to find Hermione asleep on the couch.

When it looked as though Hermione was asleep with no chance of waking up, James bent down and slipped his arms underneath her, slowly pulling her up and shifting slightly so he wouldn't drop her. "Alright, Sweetheart, let's get you in bed." He nudged the bedroom door open with his foot, setting Hermione down on the bedspread and tugging a blanket over her. He paused for a few moments before kneeling down next to her, tucking a few curls behind her ear and kissing her softly on the forehead. "Night, Hermione." He stood and walked out of the room, shutting the door softly behind him.

Hermione bit her lip and opened her eyes, tugging the blanket up to her chin and staring up at the ceiling.


	10. the Frosty Shark

_"Icing! Icing, icing, icing, icing!" Hermione bounced, much like a small child, hands placed on the counter as she beamed at her friend, who had just finished icing the cupcakes and was licking batter off of her forearm, handing the knife towards her. Hermione smiled wider – if it were even possible – and dragged her tongue across the blade to catch the frosting, stopping and freezing and making her eyes go wide as James stared back at her, eyes wide and eyebrows arched as a slow grin spread across his face. Lily snorted and laughed as Hermione went bright red in two seconds flat, hand covering her mouth as one of James's eyebrows left its companion. _

_"What did I just walk into?" he questioned as Hermione squeaked and rushed to put the knife in the sink, quickly eating the icing and wincing as Lily clung to the counter. _

_"We were having a girls' day since you're stealing my house-mate from me," Lily said, sniffing indignantly and straightening herself and her t-shirt before placing her fists on her flannel-clad hips. _

_"So a girls' day consists of staying in pajamas, listening to – what is that, Queen? – Baking, and also making lewd gestures involving a knife, icing, and your tongue?" he smirked back, glancing at Hermione as she sat on a barstool and covered her bare legs with her t-shirt – which had been stolen from him. _

_"You walked in at a really bad time," Hermione insisted, hand still covering her mouth, as she was afraid she still had icing around it, unaware that she had some on the tip of her nose. _

_"Or a really good one," he grinned, making her snort as he waggled his eyebrows at her. He glanced around the kitchen as he leaned against the counter, looking curiously at the oven and then at the excess of leftover batter. "Your oven's turned off."_

_"Yeah," Lily hummed, continuing to mix the batter, "See, we plan on eating this and watching whatever is on tv and yelling at the characters."_

_"Eating raw cake batter?" he asked as he wrinkled his nose, "That'll make you sick."_

_"Oh, don't be one of those people, James," Hermione frowned back at him, making him blink at the frosting at the tip of her nose before he grinned, checking over his shoulder to make sure that Lily was busy and wasn't watching, before he leaned over the counter and swiped the frosting away with the tip of his tongue. She turned red once again, making him grin wider as she slapped his shoulder. "Who's making lewd gestures now?"_

_"It's only a gesture if you don't live up to it," James said with a wink as Lily only arched an eyebrow back at them. She blushed darker and glared at him while he could only grin. "Just stopped by to see if you'd be ready to move in tomorrow."_

_"I'm all set," Hermione quipped back, "What about you?"_

_He grimaced as she smirked back at him, "Okay, so maybe I haven't been making room."_

_"You even have magic! It shouldn't be too hard!" Hermione laughed. She stood and started to push him to the fireplace, making him groan but allow this to be done. "Go, go, I move in tomorrow, James."_

_"Ugh," he blanched as he turned around and pouted at her, "Why can't I just stay here with you guys and eat gross cake batter?"_

_"Because you have work to do and it's a girls' day – you are not a girl," she stated, "If you were, I would probably be more attracted to Lily than you. And don't you dare repeat that to Sirius – he'd have far too much fun with it." _

_"I'm kind of having fun with it," he grinned back, smiling when she lightly hit his shoulder. He sighed and returned back to his pout, "Fine, I'll go and make room so you and your stuff can reside there." _

_He glanced back at the kitchen, where Lily was watching with a small, proud smile on her face, not even stirring anymore. She caught on and turned around with a wave, "I'm not looking!" _

_He chuckled and bent down, kissing Hermione on the lips before moving to her forehead, "I'll see you later."_

_She smiled and kissed him again, "See you later, Love."_

"Hey, hey, you okay, Miss?"

Hermione blinked and looked over at the bartender, who was looking at her worriedly. She sucked in a breath before laughing at herself, "I'm terribly sorry – I must have spaced out. I'm fine, thank you."

It was a Friday night, so it was pretty full. It was a Muggle bar on the outskirts of London, called _the Frosty Shark_, and looked like your everyday bar. However, this was where Mad-Eye Moody and a few other Order members would meet her to pick her up and take her to the location of the meeting. James had begrudgingly gone to work, and Remus would've stayed if it hadn't been for a mission he'd been sent on. Sirius had stood there for a few moments after they'd left before he arched an eyebrow, grinned, and said "You want me to leave, don't you?" After she'd nodded, he'd sighed and stepped through the Floo, promising to see her at the meeting.

"Can I get you anything?" the bartender asked.

"Uhh – you wouldn't happen to have any soda, would you?"

He smiled and nodded, walking away to see what he could get. When he was gone for a few moments, somebody occupied the seat next to her, making her look over and look at him curiously. He was tall, and extremely muscular, and had cropped blonde hair. His eyes had a far-off gaze to them, and his mouth was twisted into a disgusting leer as he looked her up and down. Admittedly, Hermione didn't think she was the prettiest thing on the entire face of the planet, and tonight she'd dressed in dark grey cargo pants and a dark blue v-neck shirt with a black jacket, expecting something to happen at the Order meeting tonight, as it could only be important if she was being called in.

"Hey there, Lovely," he started, his accent strange and foreign, or possibly because he'd had too much to drink. "The name's Josh."

"That's very nice," she stated politely before turning her head to the door, wishing desperately that Moody would walk in and whack Josh over the head with his cane.

"So, how's about I buy you a drink, in exchange for your name and number?" he asked, practically sliding down the counter towards her.

"How's about you walk away, Josh?" she frowned, practically jumping out of her skin when a hand was placed on her waist, making her look and blink at James before he kissed her temple.

"Hey, Sweetheart, who's this?" James asked, smirking a little when he saw that Josh retreated a tiny bit.

"Oh, this was Josh, who was just leaving," she smirked back, as his upper lip twisted and he stalked away to a highly intoxicated blonde woman. Hermione gagged and slumped against James, who chuckled and held her up as she shook her head. "Moody has to pick better places."

"Honestly," James sighed, Hermione watching as he relaxed a little, now that Josh was ferociously snogging the blonde woman over in a corner. "Why anybody thinks they'll find a decent human being to engage with anything worthwhile at a _bar_ is beyond me." His nose wrinkled in disgust, "I think he's trying to eat her face." He turned to Hermione, nodding his head towards the door, "You want to wait outside for them?"

"Definitely," Hermione hummed before turning to the bartender and handing him the money, "Thank you for the drink, but it appears that I'm leaving."

"Oh, no, Miss, I – " he began to protest before she stopped him with a smile.

"Please, take it," she insisted before nodding her head towards the disgusting display of public affection, "So that in the case you have children, you may educate them in the ways of being a proper human being and having high standards and goals." The bartender laughed and nodded, stating that his son would do well from that lesson, before Hermione stood and turned to find that James was smiling down at her. "What?" she asked curiously and innocently, making him blink before grinning, although it seemed a bit off.

"Nothing," he stated, walking her out of the bar with his hand on her back to guide her. "You're just something really different, you know?"

Hermione gave a laugh and leaned against the wall of the bar, the lights of the sign giving James a blue and green glow, "I highly doubt I fit into the mold, you know?" For emphasis, she tapped her temple, making him chuckle a little before he shook his head.

"Nah, even after the stuff going on inside your head – you're pretty amazing, Hermione," he said, smiling softly at her.

Hermione's chest constricted, and her hands might've fidgeted, but she couldn't look away. It was like a car crash – you just had to watch and see what would happen. She was fairly sure that she could hear her heart beat, and that her mouth might've gone dry, but James had stepped into her little personal bubble and was looking down at her with a very strange look in his eyes. And she could only keep watching him as he bent his head so that their noses were nearly touching, looked up at her eyes before his own shut and he leaned in.

"Ow! Moody!" he yelped, taking five steps back as Hermione seemed to breathe again, rubbing his head with a grimace as Hermione blinked a few times.

"There's a kid present," Moody grumbled, making Hermione look and tilt her head at a beaming little girl with bright pink hair before she catapulted herself into her arms.

"Onee!" she cheered as Hermione stared at James and Moody with very large eyes.

James grimaced and reached forward to pluck the child out of her arms, slinging her onto his hip and smiling down at her, "Hey, Dora, remember how we told you that Hermione got hurt, and she might not remember some stuff? Well, Hermione might have some trouble remembering you, alright, Squirt? She might not remember the same things you do."

"Oh," Dora said, deflating slightly before she perked up again, smiling back at Hermione, "Hi. I'm Dora. I'm six."

"Hi," Hermione smiled back. She arched an eyebrow up at James, "Sirius's cousin's daughter?"

"Yup," he nodded before he turned to Moody, "By the way, why is she here?"

He shrugged before pointing his cane at Hermione, "Wanted to see her."

"So you thought bringing a six-year-old to a _bar_ would be okay with Andromeda?" James questioned before he grinned slightly, "You really don't understand kids, do you, Moody?"

He only glared back at him as Hermione slipped Dora out of James's hold, in the case that Moody whacked him again.


	11. Just Checking

_"Mm-ah," Hermione groaned into her pillow, hugging it tighter and grimacing a little, "Get. Off."_

_"What? Can't a boyfriend do something nice for his girlfriend?" James asked as he pressed his hands further into her shoulder blades, grinning a little as she squirmed in an attempt to get her point across, but let out a huff of air when she realized it was of no use. _

_"Boyfriends usually give massages to their girlfriends in an attempt to get sex," Hermione pouted a little, kicking her legs up and hitting her heels against his back, as he was sitting on her waist. "It's not happening, Potter."_

_"Yeesh, I saw you get slammed into a wall, sorry for being nice," James huffed, although he continued to work on her back. The teasing tone left his voice, and worry crept in, "Are you okay though? Does it hurt still?"_

_Hermione rolled her eyes and laid her head on her arms, smiling a little as she shut her eyes, "James, if you were hurting me, you'd be on the floor." _

_"Right," the tone came back, along with a smirk, "I forgot, the big bad female Auror." Hermione tensed and her eyes popped open as she sucked in a breath. "My hands cold or warm, Sweetheart?" he grinned as he moved his thumb along her spine while she glared at him._

_"Not. Happening," she insisted, fidgeting as he chuckled before he slipped his hands out from under her shirt and leaned down to kiss the side of her head, wrapping his arms around her as she hummed and smiled. _

"Padfoot!" two admonishing voices sounded, making Hermione blink and look at the pair of coats and the plate she was holding, Sirius standing beside her and watching her dully.

"I've been wondering if we could do that," he hummed as Lily rolled her eyes and took the coats from her, James reaching up and taking something off of her head, making her blink at the bowl of fruit before she glared at Sirius.

"Sirius, she isn't something to play with – she is our friend, and she can kick your ass," Lily sniffed as Remus chuckled from the doorway of the kitchen.

"Perhaps he needs a demonstration," James grinned as Sirius immediately blanched.

"Granger," Moody said, appearing surprisingly silently to the doorway so the Remus jumped in alarm, "There are a couple of people who want to you to meet them in the living room."

"Do I want to meet them?" she questioned as he pursed his lips.

"Debatable," he stated as Hermione grinned and followed him. Once she was gone and out of earshot, and Moody had gone along with her, James gave a strangled sound before he plummeted face first into the dining table. Lily watched him in alarm, while Sirius only chuckled and Remus patted him sympathetically on the shoulder.

"He was like this when Hermione dated Robert," Remus explained dully before leaning down and frowning at him, "But she's dating you, so that can't be it. So what is it?"

"I almost kissed her," he said pitifully with a pout as Remus slapped a hand over his eyes and groaned, having been close enough to hear, while Sirius and Lily were left glancing at one another in curiosity.

"Oh, James, no," he grimaced as James began to whack his head against the table. "That's bad."

"I know," he whined before humming, "Although I probably wouldn't be freaking out about it so much if I had actually done it."

"Done what?" Sirius and Lily chorused.

"He almost kissed Hermione," Remus offered. There was dead silence for a few seconds, during which Lily's eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursed and she glanced between the Marauders.

"That might've actually helped," she hummed as Remus blinked at her.

"What? Lily, you can't be serious – _and don't even think about it, Padfoot._" Remus said sternly as Sirius began to open his mouth, shutting it with a pout and the biggest, saddest eyes he could muster.

"Well, if Hermione remembers more about you, then she'll be prone to trust you more, and then you'll be able to get her to remember about everyone else as well," Lily reasoned, "And even if she didn't remember us, she'd at least remember you."

"Is this an excuse to kiss my girlfriend? Because I'll totally take it," James said eagerly, smiling slightly at the redhead.

"No, it isn't," Remus frowned at him before he turned to Lily, "What if she doesn't remember him though, and is only freaked out that he made a pass at her?"

"It's James – we can easily explain it as one of the potions that you lot used to pull all the time in school," Lily snorted.

"What did we do now?"

The group turned and smiled at the new comer, who smiled back and took off his coat before he hung it on a peg with the others by the back door.

"Hey, Peter," Remus said before frowning at Lily again, who frowned back and placed her hands on her hips. Peter grimaced before leaning towards Sirius.

"What's happening?" he whispered.

"James wanted to kiss Hermione and they're debating on whether it would be a good idea or not," Sirius whispered back.

"Why would it be a bad idea?" he whispered once again.

"Hermione doesn't remember, remember?"

"Oh."

"Whatever," James announced loudly, moodily walking to the living room as they blinked after him, "I'll figure it out on my own." He stopped short, his mouth immediately quirking into a grin as Hermione struggled against the grip she was forced into, looking at James pleadingly as Fabian and Gideon hugged her tightly.

"Granger! We really – "

" – missed you when you – "

" – left us! Our new partner is – "

" – boring as hell!" they finished together as she finally escaped their grip, hiding slightly behind James before she looked at him questioningly.

"They worked with you in the Auror department," James supplied, "You were your own team, Moody said you were the only one that could deal with them."

"Why did I leave, exactly?" Hermione asked.

"Because there were a string of attacks targeting women your age and looking somewhat like you that worked at the Ministry," Fabian said before he froze and blinked over at his brother. "Wow, we didn't catch that one, did we?"

"Of course they were after Hermione," Gideon snorted with a small grin before turning back to her, "They nearly had to drag you out kicking and screaming if Lily hadn't come and talked you out of it."

"Speaking of the attractive redhead – where is she?" Fabian asked, grinning brightly when James nodded his head towards the kitchen, waving and walking away as Gideon shook his head after him.

"It was worse at Hogwarts, when he had a regular exposure to her – I'm just glad we were a couple of years ahead and never had classes with you lot," he explained before he got back on track, "Anyway, you were the only decent female Auror the department has ever had. Sure, we've got about a dozen of them, but there's nobody like Hermione." He grinned again and ruffled up her hair, making Hermione smile back up at him. They felt oddly brotherly, and reminded her a great deal of Fred and George. "Hey, there's the famous Granger grin! We miss you, Kiddo." He reached forward and pulled her into a hug, which she accepted and returned this time.

"Maybe I miss you too," she shrugged, making James chuckle as Gideon snorted back at her. She tensed and her eyes widened, which didn't go unnoticed by Gideon or James, as they looked curiously at her before James turned and blinked at Peter, who smiled back at Hermione, unaware of her suspicion.

"'Lo, Hermione," he said, stepping closer as Gideon tightened his grip on her, looking questioningly at James as he shrugged. "I'm Peter, Peter Pettigrew. We were all friends back at Hogwarts, remember?"

"No," she said with a fake smile on her face before she pulled away from Gideon and patted his arm, "I'm going to go find Moody, it was good seeing you. I think." She walked down another hallway, refusing to make eye contact with anyone else in the room.

"I really hope she gets better, James," Peter said earnestly.

"Err, thanks, Peter," he said, shooting a curious glance to Gideon, to which he shrugged back at.

* * *

"You want to interrogate the most spineless, cowardly member of the Order – aside from Mungdungus Fletcher – just because of a dream you had?" Moody questioned as Hermione stood her ground, frowning back at him as they stood in the study.

"The solution to Voldemort came from my dream," she stated, "It might be further proof that it will help take him down."

"Granger, that – "

"I'm sorry, sir, but from what I dreamed, that man aided in the murders of my friend's parents and then murdered twelve Muggles and faked his death," Hermione insisted sternly, "If I have even the slightest chance of being right about that, I would rather not take the chance."

Moody stared at her for quite some time before he nodded slowly, making Hermione release the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, nodding curtly back at him, "Thank you, sir."

"I would've done it anyway," he said gruffly, "Whether you remember it or not, you were one of the best Aurors I've ever had, male or female, and I wasn't about to question you."

"Then…then what…?" Hermione questioned innocently.

Moody gave something that resembled a grin, leaning on his cane, "That was the first time you've called what happened to you a dream."

She blinked back at him before wrapping her arms around herself, looking down at a small plastic plant resting on the corner of a desk, "Right now I don't know what I think or what to call anything."

"Understandable," he 'harrumphed' before he marched towards the door, "I'll go get Veritaserum and Pettigrew. And…" he stopped and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder, "It'll be alright, Granger. You'll make sense of it."

Hermione blinked back at him before smiling slightly, watching him leave the room before she took a deep breath and let it out shakily, running her hands through her hair.

* * *

"I feel sick," Remus said, gripping his hair and staring down at the tabletop, as James had his forehead pressed on it and Sirius was pressing his face into the corner, trying to get over the anger he felt.

"Dirty rat!" Sirius cried out, punching the wall and startling the few inhabitants of the kitchen, making Hermione wince a little. "I can't believe him! And he had the nerve to go and act like everything was alright! He had the nerve to show up here and act as if we were the best of friends, still, after he went and – "

"Hey, Mate, calm down," Fabian said, reaching forward and grabbing his shoulder, "Hermione caught him before he could cause much harm. It'll be alright"

"Is that how they knew where they were?" James asked, raising his head and looking frighteningly pale, "They knew when I would be on the raid with the Order and they knew when Hermione would be alone because I _told him?_"

"Hey, there aren't any more moles in the Order," Gideon attempted to soothe before he blinked and looked up at Hermione, "Right?" Everyone turned and looked at her, as it seemed that only Lily, Fabian and Gideon knew she was there.

Hermione pursed her lips and stared down at the floor, "As far as I know, that's right." She looked back up at them and grimaced, "I'm so sorry. I wish I was wrong."

"Don't be sorry," Remus said with a small smile.

"Yeah," Sirius nodded, "That was good. You're good. Good Granger." He pursed his lips as she arched her eyebrows at him, "I might've started drinking when I found out and it might've just kicked in." She quirked a grin back at him as he smiled back.

* * *

"James? Are you…okay? Or, rather, will you be okay?"

James picked his arm up from over his eyes, looking over at Hermione as she stood in front of a dying fire in the fireplace, her arms wrapped around her, dressed in a large t-shirt and baggy pajama pants. He'd basically remained stationary once they'd gotten home, his frown dissipating after an hour or two. He'd thought she would've gone to bed, unaware that she'd paced around the bedroom and practically freaked out over the events of the night before she'd finally slipped out and watched him for a few moments before deciding that he wasn't asleep.

"Uhh," he started before sitting up and sighing, rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses, "I think so." He turned his head to her as she sat down next to him, looking at him worriedly before he grinned. "Hey, don't worry about me – you've got enough to worry about already."

She hummed and gave a small smile, picking her knees up and wrapping her arms around them and staring at her kneecaps before glancing back over at him, "James?"

"Yeah?" he asked softly, setting his head in his hand and looking over at her.

"What were you going to do? At the bar?"

He straightened up and blinked at her as she stared at him with very large, innocent eyes. He cleared his throat a few times before he clasped his hands and looked back at her, "You know what I was going to do."

"Yeah," she nodded back.

They were silent for a few moments before he began to smile, "So why did you ask?"

"Just checking," she shrugged before reaching forward and pecking him lightly on the cheek, "Goodnight, James."

He smiled back and watched her stand and go back to her bedroom, "Goodnight, Hermione." He grinned brightly once the door was shut, lying down on the couch and folding his arms behind his head, "It's not much, but I will take it!"


	12. Tea Tree Oil

"Memory is the process of encoding, storing and retrieving information. Hermione's encoding stage is working just fine, it's the storing and retrieving that she's having trouble with. It's like all of her memories were put into a bin and locked away – storage. Well, somebody took the key to the lock, so it's harder for her to get in. _But_ there's a small hole in the bin where she can retrieve some memories – alone, these memories might not make much sense, and so when she was in her coma, her subconscious might've gathered the memories she had, like all of us, and tried to make sense with what she had. Hermione is a very imaginative person, so her subconscious took reality and bent it at a ninety degree angle. As for her new prophetic powers, I believe that whatever happened to her to cause her to become comatose in the first place might've loosened something in her brain, causing for a sort of déjà vu effect, or a very strong gut feeling, so that when it is coupled with her bent reality, would cause for her to know things she wouldn't have known before her coma."

Hermione leaned over to Remus and whispered in his ear, "When you said she was going to 'pick my brain,' you weren't kidding."

Remus, in turn, snorted into his mug of tea, shooting her a very nasty glare while he tried not to smile and spit tea all over himself, while Hermione could only grin back at him before she returned her attention back to Lily.

"Wow, you still really go all out with your homework, don't you, Evans?" Sirius grinned back as Lily frowned at him.

"You do know you aren't getting a grade out of this, right?" Hermione asked teasingly as Lily released a huff of air.

"_Anyway_," she said with a harsh glare towards the two of them as they smiled back at each other, "I've researched, and there are many different ways to treat – or at least help – memory loss, such as showing familiar objects, music, or photos."

"We did that," the four chorused as she pursed her lips.

"I _know_ we did that," she rolled her eyes, "But we didn't do objects and music. Anyway – Hermione, I believe, has a warped case of retrograde amnesia, which is the inability to retrieve information before a certain date, such as an accident. However, case studies also show that amnesia is typically associated with damage to the medial temporal lobe."

"Uhm, Lily?" James asked.

"Hmm?" she hummed back.

"Can we get more on the topic of treatment?" he questioned.

"Oh," she blinked back before grinning sheepishly, "Sorry." She cleared her throat, "My solution involves finding the metaphorical key that fits the metaphorical lock on her metaphorical memory bin."

"No duh," Hermione said, staring up at the ceiling.

"Shush, nobody's in the mood for your sassiness."

"I don't know, I'm kind of in the mood for my sassiness," she hummed before tilting her head, "Or is my vote invalid, seeing as I'm a mental case?"

"You're not mental," James told her softly.

"I don't know, Lily's kind of making me feel mental."

"_Anyway_," she insisted, although she smiled a little when she saw Hermione grinning, "I also read that scents can help, like peppermint and basil, and – "

"Did you say peppermint?" James asked, perking up slightly.

"Err, yes, and – " Lily attempted to continue on with her dialogue, but James was hopping over the back of the couch and practically running towards the kitchen.

"James? What're you thinking?" Hermione questioned, standing and following him and watching as he hopped up on top of the counter and looked through the cabinets.

"Peppermint, tea tree oil, lavender, roses," James ticked off as Hermione only looked up at him. He started to toss small vials down to her, making her blink and look at the labels. _Peppermint. Tea Tree Oil. Lavender._ "Roses." Hermione blinked and saw that he pulled out a small rose from behind his back, grinning at her as he offered it to her.

"Uhm," Hermione took it and looked curiously at him, "Why?"

"Just smell them – see what happens," he said, leaning against the counter and watching closely as Remus, Sirius and Lily stood and watched too.

Hermione arched an eyebrow at him for a few moments before sighing and setting the vials and the rose on the counter, uncorking the lavender oil and bringing it to her nose. She did the same with the others, bringing the small flower up last.

_"I don't want to wooooorrk."_

_Hermione chuckled and peered around from behind the plant at her partner. His hair was severely mussed up, his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his tie was long since gone. He had draped the upper half of his body across one of the empty tables before sliding it down so that his chin could rest on the edge, not caring that there was dirt all over his white dress shirt. _

_"If you work, there's more time for pranks," Hermione reminded him in a slightly sing-songy voice. "Afterwards," she added once she saw him perk up, thus deflating him and making him pout again. She worked a hair tie up into her hair, tying it high up on the top of her head. _

_"Ugh," James groaned as he stood, peering through the plant leaves at her, smiling slightly as he watched her work. She glanced up and caught him looking, smiling a little and arching an eyebrow._

_"What? Do I have dirt on my face?"_

_"Ahh," he stammered, trying very hard not to blush, "Nah."_

_"Ahh nah?" she echoed with a small grin, "You're so poetic, James, it's a wonder why you're single."_

_"Yeah," he said with a frown, glaring at a plant leaf as if it were the cause of all of his problems. "I wonder about it every day. So – what're the answers?"_

_"Huh-uh, do your own work!" she cried, towing her paper closer to her._

_"Come on! We're partners! We'll all get the same answers anyway!" _

_"You would know that wasn't the case if you would look at the questions," Hermione grinned, making him blink and look at his paper. He stared at it for a few moments before sounding out, "Peppermint. Tea Tree Oil. Lavender. Roses." _

_"Damn you, James Potter, it took me twenty minutes to figure that out!"_

_He chuckled and gave a cheeky grin back at her, writing down the answers, "Well not all of us are born with my ingenuity."_

_"Spell 'ingenuity,'" she hummed, writing something else on her paper. _

_"I-n…genu-i-t-y," he grimaced as she arched an eyebrow at him with a small smile. "Whatever, I'm on low levels of sleep."_

_"What, were you prowling around the halls, looking for innocent students to prank?" she asked cheekily, grinning up at him. "You're a prefect – you should know better."_

_"Nah," he hummed, setting his arms on the table and laying his head on them, watching as she worked on the plant between them, "Couldn't sleep."_

_"Why not?" she asked, not taking her eyes off of the plant. _

_"Ahh, girl crap," he huffed._

_"Hey," she said sternly, pointing at him as he raised his eyebrows, "Only girls get to say they have girl crap. You have a romantic dilemma." _

_"I'm so sorry," he laughed, "I did not know there was a proper protocol."_

_"There is," she sniffed, letting the silence last for a few moments before she dully asked, "So who is she?"_

_"Huh?" he asked. _

_"The girl you couldn't sleep over," she hummed, "Must be pretty special."_

_He smiled slightly, "She is."_

_"Hmm," she said in a slightly clipped tone, "So who is she?"_

_He watched her for a few moments before thickly saying, "You."_

_Her eyes widened and she blinked over at him, "Wha – ow!" She snatched her hand back to herself, cradling it slightly and wincing as she pressed into the skin, watching the blood spread quickly to her palm._

_"Hey, let me see," James said, moving around the table and taking his wand out, grabbing her wrist and looking for the wound. She looked up at him as he worked, her mouth opening and closing for a little before words seemed to come out._

_"You – I – you…?" she stammered._

_He pursed his lips a little, "Yeah." _

_"Oh," she said simply. She continued to look up at him, not moving away once he dropped her wrist. "Hold still. You've got something on your face." He arched an eyebrow and tilted his head at her before she stood on her toes and held on to his shoulder to steady herself, reaching up to kiss him. She pulled back after a moment, biting her lip before he grinned down at her. _

_"You are now my new Herbology partner for forever," he declared before he swooped in and kissed her again, making her smile against his mouth and tuck a loose curl behind one ear._

"Ten minutes. I just – I need – ten minutes," Hermione gasped, dropping the flower and moving towards the front door, ripping it open and rushing out, leaving them all standing there looking wide-eyed at one another.

"Not it," Sirius declared, making James and Remus glanced between each other before Lily snorted and rolled her eyes.

"I'll go after her," she stated, opening the door and finding Hermione sitting in the hallway, head in her hands and her knee curled up to her chest. "Hermione?" she asked softly once she'd shut the door, moving to sit down next to her.

"It really happened," she said breathlessly, "It really did, didn't it? I mean, I had other memories and stuff before, but that time I felt it, I felt what I felt then, and I felt so…it felt right? Like, yeah, Hermione, this is right, this is normal. It all just suddenly started to have feelings and emotions and I remember thinking that if it was Susan Grogsby I was going to hex her – I have no idea who the hell Susan Grogsby is and why I was so against thinking it was her."

Lily sat there and rubbed her shoulders for a few minutes before she stood and asked for a moment, making her nod and watch as she opened the door and walked in. Lily came out a few seconds later, helping Hermione up with a small smile. "You're sleeping over. I saw a pizza guy glance down here a couple of times, and I figure that if we stay out here any longer, he'll have to pay for their pizza because of the 'thirty minutes or less' policy."


	13. What She Knows

"Okay, so she likes him?"

"No, no, she likes _him_, but he likes her."

"And the guy that she likes, likes the guy that likes her?" Hermione squinted at the television.

"Ooh, never thought of that!" Lily said happily. "You may have just made the directors of this show hate you for figuring out the plot twist ending."

Hermione hummed with a smile, spoon halfway into her mouth, frowning for a moment before sighing and looking up at the ceiling, "I just – "

"I told you," Lily interrupted as she began to click through the channels with the remote, "If this is about your memories, they're taking a back seat. You had a mini-breakdown, so therefore this is therapy."

"If more therapists had ice cream and television, they'd get more money," Hermione grinned as Lily laughed and settled down on the couch once more.

"I'll become a therapist just for you then," Lily smiled.

"You'd get paid loads," Hermione sighed, slumping against the couch.

She hummed a little as she thought. For the past few weeks, she didn't know what to believe was real and what was made up. The more she thought about it, the less she believed the nineties were real. There were far too many things that were confusing her, so she settled on one for the moment. The memory with James that she'd had recently – she'd felt all of the emotions and she remembered the thoughts she been having then. It was as if she were reliving the moment. Her heart had stopped when he said he had a crush on her, and it'd been making up for lost time when he got close enough to fix her hand. She remembered the rain hitting the glass of the greenhouse, and the small patch of dirt James had on his face, and how big he grinned once she'd kissed him.

"Stop," Lily said softly, not even taking her gaze off of the screen, "Hermione, really, just relax and worry about it later. Everything will fix itself, I promise."

She nodded absently, watching her spoon make a small hole in the ice cream before she took a bite. She hoped she was right.

* * *

"Hey," James rolled off of the couch and stood with surprising speed and grace, looking at Hermione anxiously as she stepped through the fire. "Hermione, I'm sorry. I mean, I can guess what you remembered, and I'm sorry, so sorry, I had no idea that you would be upset by it."

"Have you slept?" she asked instead, looking at him worriedly as she walked closer to him.

"Off and on," he said before shaking his head, "Really, Hermione, I – "

"Potter!"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," James groaned, dragging his hands over his face before turning to the fire and raising his eyebrows at the outline of Moody, "Really, Moody, this is not the best time."

"Too bad, get your arse to the Ministry," he barked.

James sighed and groaned to the ceiling before looking apologetically to Hermione as he grabbed his wand and headed to the fire, "I'm sorry, I'll apologize more when I get back." Hermione gave a small laugh and waved him off before chewing on the inside of her cheek once he was gone. She was like that for a few minutes before the fire flared up again and caught her attention.

"Prongs?" Sirius's voice came from the flames.

"You just missed him," Hermione answered.

"Oh, good, then I'm coming through," he stated, making Hermione blink before smiling slightly and watching as he stepped through the Floo and brushed the soot off of his clothes. However, he was not his smiling, cheery self, but looked rather distressed. "Hey," he said stiffly.

"This can't be good," she hummed.

"Hermione, look," he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose before continuing, "I know you don't mean it, and I know you can't help what happened to you but…you need to stop doing that to James."

"What?" she asked.

His jaw set and he stood a little taller, frowning at her, as if he were trying to appear stern, "He worries constantly over you and if you'll remember or if you'll hate him and yesterday really hit him more than he would care to admit."

"And you think I'm doing that on purpose?" she asked loudly, making him wince and mentally hit himself in the head, "You think I really want to hurt him, or anyone else for that matter, but especially _James?_"

"Shit," Sirius cursed himself in a sigh.

"You think I really want to make him worry and suffer and wonder if his bloody girlfriend is going to remember him at all, you really think I want to just sit there and wonder if people are just making shit up or if I actually did or said these things, you think I really want to make anyone go through _any_ of this? And why the _fuck_ am I _crying?_" Hermione stopped herself once she found tears making their way down her face, Sirius snapping into action and hugging her tightly, rubbing her back and rocking her back and forth a little. She slumped into him and cried a little before announcing, "I'm so scared, Sirius."

He looked curiously down at her, "What do you mean?"

"I'm so scared that I'm hurting him," she whispered, "I'm so scared that this is all just a dream and I'm hurting myself. I'm so scared that something will go wrong and – "

"Hey, hey, shush, you little Gryffindor," Sirius said, pulling away and smiling softly at her, "I shouldn't have come in here and acted like you were wrong, first off. Sorry, then. I just didn't know you thought like that. And _you_ aren't hurting him – your lack of memories is, but you can't help that. Understand?" She nodded, feeling much like a small child who was being told that her monsters weren't real. "Hermione, can I ask you something?" he asked after he began to hug her again.

She gave a sniff, "Yeah?"

"Did you start to have feelings for James?" he looked curiously down at her, making her open her mouth before shutting it, as it was apparently useless, and begin to blush instead.

"Maybe," she muttered, although she pouted, making him laugh and hug her a little bit tighter.

"It'll be alright," he said, releasing her and patting her on the head, "You made it through once before." She chuckled and he pecked her on the cheek, promising to check in on her in a bit and apologizing once again that he'd been rude before he went back through the flames.

Hermione sat down on the couch with a huff, playing with her hair as she glared at it. So what if maybe she started to develop feelings for James? If they really were dating, he would be happy, right? And it wasn't as if she were just doing it for his sake – ever since the night at the bar and the Almost-Kiss, she'd started feeling weird when he grinned a certain way at her or got too close. So nobody would get hurt, if she was correct. He'd be happy, she'd be happy, and everyone would feel assured that she was getting back to their old Hermione.

But still, what if this was all a dream? What if she would be happy and then the rug would be swept out from underneath her feet, leaving her with everything in shambles around her? What if she woke up and she couldn't see Harry the same way again? What if she saw Teddy and could only think of a nineteen year old Remus and a six year old Dora – thus making it extremely uncomfortable to be in the same room as the toddler?

What if this all was real and she had the power to single-handedly defeat Voldemort and save the Wizarding World from fear and darkness?

What if this all was real and she didn't?

She glanced up at the clock and was shocked to see that three hours had gone by, making the sky darken and the stars begin to shine. Just as she stood to debate between bed or food, the fire roared and a very exhausted James walked through to flop himself onto the couch. He groaned and curled up, hugging a pillow as he pressed his face into it. Hermione smiled and stood next to him, trying to understand his muffled accounts of the day before he lifted his head and grimaced, his glasses and hair askew.

"Hi," Hermione smirked a little, amusement evident on her face as he rubbed his eyes underneath his glasses.

"Hi," he said slowly, as if he had to think for a few moments on the right words and how to say them.

"Now when you said you slept off and on last night, you really meant off completely, didn't you?" she asked.

"Maybe," he said, although he wouldn't look up at her.

She gave a loud sigh, "James."

"I was worried," he pouted back, arms slung carelessly over the arm rest, "I'm allowed to worry."

"Yes, but not so much that you sacrifice sleep," she stated. "That isn't healthy."

"Maybe you aren't healthy," he retorted, making her snort and grin down at him.

"That was lame," she commented.

"I know – I immediately regretted it," he hummed, shutting his eyes, "Say, about how much nerve do you think it would take to quit my job? Because sometimes I feel like it."

"Quite a lot, I suppose, with Moody as your boss," she stated softly, leaning down to take his glasses as his breathing began to even out.

"Hmm," he hummed as she set his glasses down on the coffee table, "Can't be worse than proposing."

Hermione froze and gaped at him as he opened his eyes and blinked a few times before his eyes widened and he sat up, inhaling deeply before slapping a hand over his mouth and running the other through his hair.

"James," Hermione began coldly, "Don't tell me."

"I broke it," he whined back.

"We're _engaged?_" she all but shrieked.

"We were doing so well and I broke it,"

"Why the _hell_ didn't you tell me?" she asked loudly as he sighed and reached for his glasses, setting them on and frowning at himself.

"Well, see, my original plan was to not even tell you we were dating, but then Lily opened her big mouth and that was shot to hell," he replied grumpily before humming offhandedly, "I'm really glad you didn't tell her before your accident, or else you would've known."

"I _should've _known!" she yelped before glaring at him, wand out now, "What else are you not telling me, James?"

He sighed and looked at her tiredly, "Nothing, Hermione, I promise."

"Oh? Am I pregnant or something, did I shag Sirius, what?"

He frowned at her, "Why would you shag Sirius?"

She groaned, rolled her eyes, and turned on her heel, walking to the bedroom and shutting the door with her back, rubbing her eyes as her head swam.

_"Hey."_

_Hermione looked up from her book and smiled when James pecked her cheek before he flopped next to her on the bed, playing with her hair as she sat cross-legged and read her book, which she had immediately gone back to. _

_"What're you reading?" he asked, used to her being silent as she read, managing to amuse himself by playing with her hair before he found that she'd read long enough and began to distract her. _

_"That new book you got me," she smiled back, showing him the cover before going back to her spot._

_"Oh?" he asked, interest peaking, "How far are you into it?"_

_"Not that far, I'm on the tenth page, I just started," she hummed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her into leaning against his stomach as he lay down on his side, propping his head up with one arm as his hand played with her hair. He read with her for a while, watching as she turned each page. Soon, at page seventeen, all of the words disappeared and she blinked, watching as another hand began to write._

_Hermione Jean Granger_

_You are extremely hard to write about_

_But only because you're so perfect and I don't want to get distracted from the point_

_I love you very much and I'm not afraid to let you know that_

_And it scares me that maybe one day you'll realize you're far too amazing to be stuck with me_

_And so I want to marry you before you come to your senses_

_(We're starting and ending this on full names, although hopefully your last name will soon change.)_

_Love_

_James Icarus Potter_

_"Oh my God," Hermione breathed before staring wide eyed at James as he watched her carefully. "Oh, my God." He slowly began to grin, sitting up a little as she sat on her knees and gaped at him before he reached into his pocket and held out a ring, making her gape between it and him now._

_"I'm not joking," he grinned, slowly reaching for her hand to place the ring on it, "I love you, and I do want to marry you, and I do want to change your last name."_

_"Oh my God," Hermione insisted, pressing her hands to her face and staring at him as he laughed and kissed her, pulling back and grinning brighter when she laughed and began to smile, with a tear slipping down her face. "Yeah. Yes. Hell yes, I'll marry you." He laughed and kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her and tugging her into him._

Hermione blinked and looked around the room, immediately recognizing a book sitting on the bookshelf as the one from the memory. She carefully opened it and flipped to the seventeenth page, watching as the proposal repeated again, staring at the words and his slanted writing for several minutes before she shut the book and set it back in its place.

"Come on."

James looked up from beating his head against the coffee table and looked at Hermione curiously, wondering just how hard he'd hit his head before she rolled her eyes and nodded her head towards the open bedroom door.

"I'll yell at you more for not telling me later," she sighed as he stood and arched an eyebrow at her, "Right now, just get into bed."

"You sure?" he asked, stepping closer to her but leaning away carefully, as if she would hit him.

She arched an eyebrow back and smirked a little, "Do you really want me to change my mind?"

"Nope," he said eagerly, popping the 'p' before following her into the room, taking off his shoes and slipping into his side of the bed as she curled up on hers, making him think for a moment before he leaned over her and pecked her on the side of her nose, throwing her off as she blinked at him. "Goodnight," he said before lying back down and shutting his eyes after removing his glasses. He blinked his eyes open and looked curiously down at the slightly blurry Hermione as she leaned into his chest.

"Goodnight, James," she murmured, making him smile before they both went off to sleep.

* * *

**I don't usually have author's notes on this story (I don't really know why I just don't) but I'm sorry if this isn't up to your expectations, my mom just had surgery yesterday and I stayed up all night talking with her and then I typed this shitty thing so just take this and I promise to make the next chapter extra special. XOXO**


	14. Not If You Know

James was wondering whether or not he was dreaming. First, she asked him to sleep with her in their bed. Then, she slept in his arms nearly the entire night. And now, as it was morning, she was sitting up in bed eating yogurt and squinting at the book, which was what he woke up to. He reached over on the nightstand behind him and grabbed his glasses before hugging his pillow and setting his chin on it, arching an eyebrow at her.

"There's nothing else in this book after it," she hummed before glancing up at him, "After you proposed. The rest of the pages are blank."

"Yeah," he said, voice still groggy from sleep, "I only had to keep you interested long enough until you got there." He gave a small grin, "Why? Did you want to know how it ended?"

"Yeah," she said, sighing and tossing the book in a chair near the window, vanishing the empty yogurt carton and sending the spoon to the kitchen. "So."

"So," he sighed, sitting up and facing her, making her eye his bed hair and try not to smile.

"We're engaged," she hummed slightly.

He grimaced, "Yeah."

She was silent for a few moments, tracing her palm as she thought before looking up at him, "Alright."

"Alright?" he echoed incredulously. "When you found out we were dating, you flipped out! And now you're just shrugging when we're _engaged_ and saying '_alright'?_"

She arched an eyebrow, "D'you want me to flip out? Because I can manage."

"No, no, I just – " he gave a sigh, "You're just enjoying throwing me off, aren't you? Last night and then this and – Hermione, I'm still sleep deprived, this isn't funny!"

She grinned, "I'm not messing with you!"

"Yeah, right!"

"Oy! Anybody home? Helloooo?" Sirius asked, making the two sigh and have Hermione flick her wand to open the door, waving him as he blinked between the two. "Should I come back?" he asked innocently before Hermione gave him a reprimanding look.

"Tell her she's messing with my head!" James demanded.

"I am _not!_" Hermione insisted.

"Ehh, you probably unintentionally are," Sirius offered dully before smiling slightly at her, "Are you trying to tell him?"

She blushed and frowned at the pillow James had discarded, making Sirius chuckle as James asked, "What? Tell me what?"

"Oh, just that your girlfriend suddenly started to like you again," Sirius offered, coughing when Hermione reached out and punched him in the stomach, doubling over and glaring at her before he coughed out, "Last time I ever help you!"

"I was getting there!" she yelled.

"Oh yeah? When were you going to manage to tell him – Christmas?" he asked loudly. He turned and grumbled before calling out, "I'm leaving! I'm never coming back!"

"Yeah, right," Hermione called back, huffing once the flames announced his departure before wincing back at James and hiding a little behind her hair. He grinned and leaned forward slightly as she blushed and looked at the curls. "Uhm. I was going to tell you before the whole engagement thing but then that happened and I – "

"Hermione?"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Why are you embarrassed?" he asked, grinning widely at her as she grimaced.

"I don't know," she answered meekly before whining and collapsing on the mattress, making James laugh as she hid her face. "I just feel like screaming and hiding. Can I do that?"

"No," he answered, grabbing her arms and tugging her up into his lap, smiling down at her as she looked up from her fingers. "Hermione, its fine. Honestly, it's better than fine, it's bloody brilliant." He pecked her forehead and she turned and hid her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around him and making him grin wider. "We'll take it how you want it, Hermione. I'm not going to push you."

"'Kay," Hermione muffled, "Can I hide now?"

He chuckled and hugged her, rubbing her back and smiling, "Sure."

* * *

"Alright – favorite song?"

"Hmm…Muggle or otherwise?"

"Ehh – Muggle?"

"I like that one song."

"Wow, very descriptive, James."

"Shush, let me think…that song, _Renegade_?"

"Oh, by the Styx? Yeah, love that one," Hermione agreed. They'd been piled up in bed the whole day, just lying there and talking. Hermione would purse her lips every time James guessed something about her that was correct, which only made him grin cheekily at her in turn. He would tell her stories, sometimes about them and other times about the Marauders or Lily, or all of them together.

Apparently, they'd first met on the train, when James and Sirius had been running from some older Slytherins they'd unintentionally pissed off, and had accidentally plowed over Hermione. James had been the one to stand up, help her up, brush her off, grin and say sorry before running for his life again, making Hermione blink after him curiously. They'd been surprised when she and Remus had hugged and Remus had properly introduced her, and she'd walked up to Sirius and showed him a bruise on her elbow and looked at him pointedly, although she smiled to James.

Apparently Hermione had been teased a lot during the first year of school, and therefore Remus became like her protective older brother, frowning at someone who picked on her whenever he was around. When Hermione finally pushed back and punched someone, Remus had glared at her for days while Sirius and James both congratulated her lengthily. Hermione had gotten sick in her second year by some weird disease that they still don't know about, and thus spent a majority of the year in the Hospital Wing. Her parents had even talked about moving her to Mungo's before she got better. But the four would always visit her, and Lily would bring homework, and they would just hang around with her. In third year, James said that he had begun to be a 'cheeky prat,' and so he really did deserve it when she kicked him, although he wouldn't say _why_ she had. He recounted fourth and fifth for her and scowled when he mentioned the infamous Robert Kopecki and how he hurt her. Apparently he hadn't been fond of having his girlfriend being smarter than him and had decided to pursue other interests. Namely Jennifer Logan while he was still dating Hermione.

"I found you crying when I was walking down the halls at night," James stated as he played with her hand, Hermione watching his face. "I was going to prank some Slytherins with a new spell I'd learned. Remus was in the Hospital Wing because the full moon was coming up, and Sirius and Peter were serving detention. Apparently, you'd found out and confronted him about it up in the Astronomy tower after class and it went well past curfew. It was the first time I'd seen you cry. So I stopped and held you and listened to you rant and rave about how awful of a human being he was. We sat there for hours; I'd pulled you back into the Astronomy tower. You kept saying you were stupid for not noticing, as apparently the whole school – aside from me and our friends – knew. I told you that you were the smartest person I know and that he was just an ass that should've been in Slytherin instead of Ravenclaw. You thanked me and went back to the dorms and I headed for Ravenclaw tower rather than Slytherin. After we started dating, you said that's when you started to fancy me."

He looked up back at her face and smiled, and Hermione couldn't help but smile back. He leaned over and pecked her forehead, pressing his down on hers and running his thumbs over her eyelashes as she blinked, smiling wider at her when she gave a laugh. He pecked the tip of her nose, and then her cheek, and hesitated as he got eye-to-eye with her.

"You can stop me whenever you want, you know," he reminded her.

"I know," she replied. He grinned before leaning closer and kissing her, slow and careful, ready to pull away the second she protested. She hummed and pressed closer, making it a fairly normal kiss, instead of as if she were frightened of him. He wound his hand into her hair and played with the curls, Hermione tugging a little on his shirt to bring him closer. He pulled away and blinked at her before smiling back and setting his head on the pillow with hers, his hand still playing with her hair. She smiled before moving to press her ear against his chest, listening to his heartbeat as she tossed an arm over his torso and he kissed the top of her head.

"Goodnight, Hermione," he murmured.

"Goodnight, James," she answered.

* * *

"I don't know why you're doing this," Hermione stated irritably, frowning at Fabian and Gideon as they blinked innocently back at her. "I remember everything from there just fine."

"Oh," they chorused, slowly plucking the suction-cupped wires off of her forehead, Gideon turning and picking up the small, weird device they had before they chunked the whole mess into a hall closet and slammed the door, grinning quite happily at her. She rolled her eyes and frowned at them, settling her arms over her chest and huffing. Lily chuckled and sat on the couch next to her, patting her leg with a smile. Remus was sitting in the floor in front of them, arms and chin resting on the coffee table as Sirius – in dog form, surprisingly – rolled around on the carpet in an act of pure boredom. James was talking to Moody, and they actually appeared to be agreeing on something, which was somewhat of a first.

Professor McGonagall had been by and smiled at her and said that they were ready for her instructions on how to take down Voldemort. Hermione was more than eager to get it over with, and so had no complaints. James was a little more wary about the ordeal, and he'd shot many worried glances towards her. She'd pulled him aside once and told him to stop stressing before pecking him on the cheek and heading over to the couch, where she was then confronted by Fabian and Gideon and the suctioned-cupped wires.

"Alright, Granger," Moody said, walking towards her as James plopped down on the other side of her, "Whenever you're ready."

"He has these things, called Horcruxes, they hold pieces of the soul. You can turn anything into a Horcrux, but each time you do, you split apart your soul in the process. Making even one is considered a dark act, as you have to kill someone in order to make it," she declared.

"Let me guess, he's got more than one?" Gideon questioned, making her nod.

"He has his old diary, I believe it's in Malfoy Manor, or somewhere in his possession," she frowned, "Last thing I remember, Lucius Malfoy had it."

Moody nodded, a piece of parchment and a quill floating nearby him.

"There's the Gaunt family ring, although that has a very powerful spell on it. If anyone destroys it…I believe they die, but it was slowed down."

"Don't destroy the ring – got it," Fabian chipped in.

"There's a locket, it was Salazar Slytherin's. And Helga Hufflepuff's cup, and Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem."

"Hi, sorry, are you talking about her _lost_ diadem?" Remus asked, turning around and blinking at her as she smirked.

"Well, it's not lost if you know where it is, now is it?" she asked as he gaped a little at her.

"Are you telling me you know where _Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem_ is?"

"Didn't she just say that?" Gideon grinned.

"Focus," Moody grumbled.

Hermione fidgeted a little before pursing her lips, "Let's see…diary, locket, ring, cup, diadem…oh, his snake, Nagini, although I don't know exactly when he does that."

"Alright, so possibly six Horcruxes," Fabian hummed.

"Actually," she grimaced, "Maybe seven. My friend, Harry, he was an unintentionally made Horcrux."

"Awkward," Gideon hummed thoughtfully.

"But Harry isn't real, Hermione," Sirius stated.

"That's what worries me," she pursed her lips and frowned at the coffee table before shaking her head, "In any case, it can be reversed by whoever created them feeling remorse, although I doubt Riddle would do that."

"Who?" a few people echoed as she blinked back at them.

"Oh," she said, "Tom Riddle. Voldemort?"

"You know his freaking real name?" Remus crowed.

"Wicked!" Fabian and Gideon chorused.

"In any case, they can be destroyed by several things, such as Fiendfyre or basilisk venom, and if the Horcrux is a living being, then perhaps the Killing Curse, although I'm not entirely sure about that one," she bit her lower lip and thought.

"Basilisks have been extinct for ages though, and Fiendfyre takes a numerous amount of skill to – " Lily began before she was cut off by a monotonous Hermione.

"There's one living in the pipes at Hogwarts," she stated.

"We went to _school_ with that thing?" James asked with wide eyes as she nodded.

"Wicked!" Fabian and Gideon crowed as Moody sighed and dragged his hand across his face. He had quite a lot of work to do.


	15. Hope Not

_"Hey, how was your first day home alone?"_

_Hermione looked up and practically beamed at James, rushing towards him and kissing him soundly before he could even step far from the fireplace. James blinked and made a noise of surprise before kissing her back, arms outstretched as his hands were filled with different papers and his work robes. He chuckled when he pulled away, grinning back down at her, "I'm guessing that it wasn't that good?"_

_"I cleaned everything," she replied, taking the papers from him and setting them on the coffee table as he threw his robes over the back of the chair and sat down on the couch, reaching out and pulling her into his lap, "Then, I read everything. Then I read everything again. And then I stared at the ceiling until you came home."_

_"And it's only your first day," James grinned as she pouted back at him, pecking her lips, "Aww, don't worry, it'll get better." _

_"Doubtful," she hummed, kissing him once again, wrapping her arms around his neck and shifting so that she was slightly taller than him. "Quick question."_

_"Hmm?" he hummed, as she was kissing the side of his head and running her fingers through his hair, and he was incredibly distracted. _

_"What do you think about having kids?"_

_"Whoa, whoa, that's not a quick question," he blinked and pulled away, shaking his head and gripping her arm as she bit her lower lip, "Please tell me this is just an innocent question and not – "_

_"No! No, I'm not pregnant," she rolled her eyes, "I'm just saying – do you want to have kids in the future?" _

_"Like, distant future or next month future?" he narrowed his eyes at her. _

_"After the house with the picket fence with only one last name on the mailbox future," she grinned. _

_"Clarify, that's all I'm saying," he said before humming and thinking about it, "I do want kids, but not right now. I'm not home enough from work to see them – or you – as often as I would like, and it's not exactly safe in the 'real world' right now." _

_"Good answer," she smiled, pecking his cheek as he smiled back. _

"You know, I'm not against you getting this close to me, but this is about as close as you're going to get."

Hermione sleepily blinked her eyes open and looked up at James as he grinned down at her, one hand propping his head up, the other playing with her hair. She groaned and buried her face into his chest once more, making him chuckle as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

"You're warm," she muffled back, "Shut up."

"Want to go back to sleep?" he questioned.

"Can I?" she asked hopefully.

"Sorry, if you do it'll have to be without me," he winced apologetically at her as she gave a groan, "Hey, blame Moody. Honestly, between him and the Order, I'm lucky I get to sleep at all, let alone come back here and sleep." It'd been at least three weeks since Hermione had informed the Order on all of the Horcruxes, and since then things had gotten even more hectic. Raids and such happened more frequently, and James would repair his bruises from work before going and getting more for the Order. Sirius and Remus seemed just as tired as he did, and seeing as they didn't work, there was no telling what the Order had them doing. Hermione was the only one not doing anything and being extremely upset about it. She had spent the first week and a half demonstrating how to get the first Horcrux, and then had been bored for the remaining time. So far, they hadn't even gotten it yet, and she was getting anxious. He wished he could find some way to help, but he was rather at a loss.

"Why don't you go hang out with Lily today?" he asked.

"Because she's doing something too," Hermione pouted, "Everyone is doing something besides me."

"I'm sorry, Love," he kissed her forehead as he got out of bed, "I know how much you hate to be – "

"Useless?"

"I was going to say stationary," he grinned back, "Hermione, you are certainly not useless."

"Feels like it!" she called as he left the room to go and change. She sighed and hugged her pillow, lying on her stomach and humming as she felt herself dozing off again. Before she was fully asleep, James hovered over her and pecked her head, making her turn and smile up at him as he grinned down at her before kissing her thoroughly.

"I'll see you later," he promised, pecking her temple before getting up to go to work.

"Bye," she hummed as she stretched, sighing happily to herself.

_"To the Dark Lord,_

_I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more._

_R.A.B."_

Hermione sat up with a gasp, eyes wide as her eyes stared at the calendar, as if it would have the occasion marked on it. "Oh dear God, it's today."

* * *

"Sirius! Sirius!"

Sirius froze in his tracks and whirled around to blink at Hermione as she raced towards him, grabbing a handful of his robes and towing him away from talking to Fabian. "Sirius, come on, you have to come quickly, it's – "

"Whoa, whoa, Hermione, where's the fire?" Gideon questioned.

"It's Regulus, it's your brother, he's – "

"Oh, him," Sirius snorted and rolled his eyes, a troubled look in his eyes, "He's a Death Eater, Hermione, he's been one for ages."

"No, Sirius, no, he's not! He's trying to get the locket, he's trying to trick You-Know-Who! Sirius, he's going to die today if we don't do something! They're going to kill him if the Inferi don't!" she pleaded, tugging on his sleeve.

"_What?_" he gaped before shaking his head and finally moving with her, Fabian and Gideon running out behind them.

"Whoa, where are you three going with Hermione?" James asked, poking his head out of his cubicle as Frank Longbottom's head appeared on the other side of the wall, standing on a swivel chair.

"No time, we've gotta get to Regulus before they do!" Hermione said in a rush, turning back to speak before turning back around to run.

"Where the bloody hell do you lot think you're going?" Moody asked in a roar.

"Err – lunch break!" Fabian said, grabbing Hermione and Sirius and towing them in the lift as Gideon frantically pushed the button, as Moody was getting closer and closer.

"We're going to stop a murder, be back soon!" Hermione called before the elevator doors closed. Her eye twitched and she shook her head briefly before glancing to Fabian and Gideon, "Why do I get the feeling that that's not the first time I've done something like that?"

The two grinned back, "Because it's not."

"So, quick question, I think everyone else will agree with it – _what the hell is going on?_" Sirius asked.

"Regulus helped hide a Horcrux, now he's giving up his Death Eater title and going after it to replace it with a fake. If the Inferi don't get him, or the potion that hid the Horcrux, then the Death Eaters will," Hermione said, bouncing on her toes as she counted the floors. Far too many. "Sirius, we'll need you to call Kreacher once we get out of the lift."

"Why?" he questioned, his face pale and his eyes wide.

"It has a ward around it, we won't be able to Apparate in, plus I don't know the exact location," she pursed her lips and tied her hair up. "Kreacher does, and he'll be able to pop us in."

"Right, House Elves have a different brand of magic," Gideon hummed.

"Hermione, that thing hates me, he won't help us," Sirius said.

"However much he hates you will always be less compared to how much he likes Regulus," she said before they stepped out into the lobby. Fabian found an empty meeting room and gathered the group inside, locking the door and warding it.

As soon as Sirius called, Kreacher appeared and looked extremely miffed and upset. Hermione kneeled down and spoke to him in a rush, "Kreacher, I know you know where Regulus is, and I know you're upset, but we can help him if you help us."

Kreacher gave a very big sniff and looked carefully at her, "You're the know-it-all Mudblood."

"Yeah, okay, fine, I'm a Mudblood, but I'm a Mudblood who wants to save your master," she said, cutting off the boys' shouts of disapproval. "Please, Kreacher, you know you want him safe just as much as we do."

"You left the family, I should not listen to you," Kreacher said to Sirius.

"But you came anyway," he pointed out.

Kreacher's eyes got very big and shiny and he let out a breath, holding out his hand to Hermione's, meaning to shake on the deal. Instead, she beamed and hugged him, startling him to pieces.

* * *

"Alright, there's no Death Eaters," Gideon whispered as Hermione crept into the cave, squinting against the darkness, trying to find the little island.

"Doesn't mean there won't be," Fabian murmured.

"His light went out," Hermione muttered before moving closer to the inky water. She felt something brush against her leg and froze before taking her wand and whispering, "_Lumos._" She relaxed when she saw it was just the boat, but tensed again when something in the boat shifted. _Please don't be an Inferi. Please don't be some weird, blind, mutated fish that's going to eat my face. Please don't let it be him, please don't let us be too late._ She leaned closer into the boat, holding her wand at such an angle to either see the thing, or to blast it away. Her mouth opened when she saw the jet black hair and pale skin, a ring on one of his fingers that had something that resembled the Black family crest on it. She reached a shaky hand in and placed two fingers to his neck, waiting for what felt like an eternity.

_One one-thousand. Two one-thousand. Three one-thousand. Four one-thousand._

"He's alive!" she said in a gasp, diving into the boat, rolling him over to try to help, when his hand darted out and his fingers wrapped around her throat. She gagged and stilled, wand still out as she looked down at him.

"Who're you?" he asked in a ragged voice, narrowing his eyes.

"Hermione Granger," she answered.

"I remember you, from school," he mumbled, "Why're you here?"

"Regulus Black, I'm here to help, so if you would kindly remove your hand from my throat." He did as he was asked and she took a deep breath before turning over her shoulder. "Sirius! I found him, he's alive! Call Kreacher back!"

"Sirius?" Regulus asked in surprise, "Why's Sirius - ?"

"Because he's your big brother, and he cares about you very much, no matter _how_ much of an act he pulls," she said, grabbing under his arms and hoisting him up into her lap slightly as she sat on a plank. "Come on, we have to move quickly, there could be Death Eaters here at any time."

"They're gone," he croaked.

"What?" she blinked down at him.

"They were here. Saw me crawlin' to the boat with the Inferi comin' up out of the water. Laughed and left me to die."

"Well, we're not going to do that," she said before turning to Kreacher. "Don't take him to Mungo's, there might be Death Eaters there. Take him to my flat, you know where that is?" He shook his head. "Take Sirius with you as well, then. I've got potions and Muggle remedies there to help him, but first thing you need to do is get a big glass of water and give it to him, make sure he drinks all of it. He's got poison in him, we're going to have to get it out. Sirius, drag out every single potion in my medicine cabinet. Wait, scratch that, every potion except the one in a pink bottle, that's not going to do him any good. Once that's done, Kreacher can come get us."

"Alright," he nodded, reaching in and hoisting Regulus out of Hermione's grip, allowing Kreacher to grab onto their jackets to pop them away. Hermione hopped out of the boat, only to start pushing it back into the water.

"Whoa, whoa, what're you doing?" Fabian asked.

"I need to check if he put in the fake locket," she said with a grunt.

"Who cares?" Gideon asked, "So long as the real one isn't there, it's fine!"

"If they see that it's gone, they'll know that Regulus has it, and when they see that Regulus is not in the bottom of this lake, they'll know that he's alive, and then they'll know we're nabbing Horcruxes," she explained as the brothers glanced between each other.

"And to think," Fabian said as he helped her push the boat, "We'd almost forgotten how weird your train of thought is."

"Shut up and shove," she frowned.

* * *

"So explain to me what's going on?" James asked loudly, Frank nodding along next to him as they followed Sirius to the living room, his arms full of the potions Hermione had told him to get.

"Regulus is dying," Sirius said worriedly.

James sighed, feeling that this would be one of those instances where he'd have to drag answers out of his friend, when there was a pop in the hallway. They walked in and saw Hermione and the Prewitts, soaking wet and frowning at one another.

"Alright, medicine?" Hermione said, wringing out her hair as everyone else blinked at her.

"Why are you – never mind, fix my brother," Sirius started before he began to push her towards Regulus as he pouted on the couch and eyed the potions warily.

After several hours, during the first few Hermione having explained to James and Frank as she worked, the group was sitting on various furniture pieces in the living room when the fireplace came to life and Remus strode in with Lily not far behind him. They blinked at the scene, then at one another before turning slowly to James.

James, in response, shook his head and shrugged. Finding no answer with him, they turned to Hermione and Lily arched an eyebrow.

Hermione whined and leaned further into James's leg, pillow thrown over her face, "Don't me explain it again!"

"I nearly died and Hermione saved me," Regulus spoke up, looking sick, but not on the brink of death, "And, also, I'm on your side now."

"Great," Remus said in a clipped tone, his eyebrows arched as he blinked at him, "Now who are you?"

"My younger brother," Sirius stated tiredly from under the coffee table, holding a pillow under his chin as Remus and Lily tilted their heads and blinked at him.

"And how did you nearly die?" Lily questioned.

"Long story," they chorused.

"By the way, several questions arise," Sirius said, pulling out from underneath the table to look at Hermione, as she had picked the pillow off of her face to look at him. "One – why were you, Fabian, and Gideon wet when you came back?"

"Boat tipped," Gideon sighed as Fabian donned a grumpy look.

"Ohh…kay," Sirius blinked before turning back to Hermione once more, "Also – what's in the pink bottle?"

Hermione pursed her lips and she went a little red, but glared at him a little, "Stuff it."

"But I wanna know," he pouted, "My baby brother almost died! Humor me!" Regulus rolled his eyes at his brother, choosing to stay silent on the fact that he was not his 'baby' brother.

James snorted and grinned, arching an eyebrow back at him, "Pregnancy test in a bottle. Just in case." Hermione turned an even darker red and placed the pillow back over her face.

Sirius blinked back before turning to Regulus, who arched an eyebrow and gave a ghost of a grin, then turned back to Hermione, "You're right. That wouldn't have worked on him. Hopefully. Reg, are you preggers?"

"Hope not," he chirped. Lily gave a very loud snort before bursting into laughter, causing the Prewitts, then the Blacks, then James, then Remus and Frank, and finally Hermione to join in as well.


	16. I Know You Care

James rushed and skidded to a stop in front of the receptionist desk as she blinked and looked at him warily as he attempted to catch his breath.

"Hermione – Granger?" he panted, clutching the edge of the counter desperately.

"Oh, just down the hall, to your left," she answered, making him nod his thanks and walk instead of jogging again. He knocked before opening the door, finding Sirius in one of the chairs in the room, looking positively elated as Hermione grimaced on the hospital bed, a split upper lip and her knuckles bloody.

"Okay, before you get mad," Hermione began as he shut the door and stared at her, "He hit me first."

James had been called out of work with a Patronus from Sirius stating that Hermione had been admitted into a Muggle hospital. He'd explained the situation to James with a gleeful voice, which only made James groan as he scrambled to gather his things and try to tell Moody what was going on, but as soon as the older man had heard "Hermione" and "hospital," he'd sighed and let him go. Still, whatever Moody had been thinking had been done to Hermione, it was still probably the farthest from the truth.

"How the hell," James began, "Did you get into a bar fight?"

"Well I was waiting on Sirius and then some bloke came tried to hit on me and I told him to back off and then he kept doing it and he actually grabbed me and I told him to back off again but he wouldn't so I screamed for help and then he hit me and I decked him," Hermione answered in a rush, Sirius bouncing in his seat at the recounting of the story.

"Prongs, you should _see_ this other guy," he grinned, "Huge, at least six feet tall, shoulders about as wide as three of these chairs – _and he was holding his jaw and crying when I walked up there._ The police got involved! The guy's trying to press charges on Hermione, but there's witnesses going against him, and I really want her to press charges on him but she won't do it." He pouted at her and she rolled her eyes at him, scoffing.

"What would that do?" she asked.

"Put the guy in jail, for one," Sirius answered, "Maybe he wouldn't beat up on random girls then."

Hermione sighed before turning to James and fidgeting, "Uhm. You haven't said anything. Are you mad?"

James hit his head against the door, eyes shut as he dragged his hands over his face before reaching and opening the door. "Sirius?" Sirius wordlessly got up, saluted Hermione, and stepped through the door as she nervously tugged on her fingers. James stepped up closer to her and sighed, taking her chin in his hand and ghosting his thumb over the split in her lip, making her wince a little. "What'd the doctors say?"

"That I'd have to get stitches," she frowned, paling a little.

He hummed, taking out his wand and healing it just enough that stitches wouldn't be necessary. She gave a soft smile before looking up at him worriedly, "James?"

"I'm not mad, Hermione," he answered, pulling her into him, sighing into her hair, "I'm freaking out. I just can't leave you alone anywhere, can I?"

"So, you aren't mad?" she blinked.

"I'm mad that I didn't get to see you take down the Incredible Hulk, but no, I'm not mad at you," he smiled, kissing her forehead while she looked extremely confused. "You should press charges though, Sirius does have a point – he could do this again to some other girl and it could have a different outcome."

She sighed, nodding slowly, "Yeah. Okay. I just don't want to go through all that trouble. I would've bolted if the police hadn't shown up – I really don't like confrontation."

James scoffed and grinned down at her, arching an eyebrow before kissing her nose, "Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it."

She started to stick her tongue out at him but hissed when her lip cried out in pain, James grimacing as well and moving his thumb over it lightly, not even touching the skin, just doing something that looked as if he were doing something to help.

_"Oh, shit!"_

_"James, this needs to be cleaned before it can be healed."_

_"Can you just knock me out or something?" he asked, his shoulder throbbing. He knew it looked pretty bad the way Hermione had paled and gaped at him before grabbing his good arm and shoving him into the couch, vanishing his shirt to get a better look at it. It was mangled and bloody, and she tried dismissing the idea that she saw a bone, but it was deep. When asked what had gotten him, James had snorted and grumbled out that it was Fenrir Greyback, who apparently didn't cut his nails so that they could be like claws when he needed them to be. "Because this fucking hurts, Hermione."_

_"I know, Sweetheart," she said, lowering her wand for a moment as she bit her lower lip, "But if you're talking to me then I know that…" She cut herself off with a shake of her head, James blinking back at her before hissing and clutching the pillow, gritting his teeth. When she was finished cleaning it and had started on healing it, James had relaxed and was watching her as best as he could from his position. _

_"Hermione?" he called out softly. _

_"Mmhmm?" she hummed, focusing intently on his wound. _

_"I'm never going to leave you if I can help it." _

_Hermione paused and looked up at his face before giving a small smile, "I know."_

"Miss Granger? Miss Granger?"

Hermione blinked at the bushy mustache that dominated her view, a bright light shining in her eyes. She blinked and moved away, trying to recover as the doctor took a few steps back.

"Are you alright? Are you suffering from any head trauma?" the doctor questioned.

"No, was just somewhere else," Hermione mumbled before her eyes zeroed in on the male nurse with the needle and some black surgical thread in his hand. "_Fuck_ no."

James was looking rather guilty at the door, grimacing back at her.

"I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but it is for the best," the doctor insisted, taking a syringe and another needle from the nurse.

"Can't you just check again?" Hermione asked, her voice getting a higher pitch to it as she gripped the small bed, the paper crinkling underneath her as she began to panic.

"I just did, Mister Potter insisted, but it still needs stitches," he frowned, mustache twitching in irritation.

"Doc, mind if I have a minute with her? I might calm her down," James interrupted, making the doctor 'harrumph' and nod, leaving the nurse to sigh and relax a little.

"I'm really not looking forward to watching this, Honey," he stated, eyes as wide as Hermione's, "I have a really big deal about empathy instead of sympathy. Cracked my head open when I was six, trying to do a move on my bike. But, you're pretty badass. That guy you took down? _Huge_." And with that, he left, James shutting the door behind him in amusement before turning back to Hermione as her lower lip wobbled and tears filled her eyes.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, I thought that would cut it," James said, moving to her and sitting on the bed next to her, pulling her into his lap and nosing through her hair, holding her tightly as she whimpered and moved into him. "I can sit here, like this, when they do it, and I'll numb it more than whatever shot he'll give you. You won't even know you have a lower half of your face, if you want."

Hermione gave a watery laugh, shutting her eyes and hugging him tightly as he rubbed her back, pressing her face into the crook of his neck, being careful of her lip, "It's alright. But I'd appreciate it if you stayed."

"Of course," he murmured, kissing her shoulder, running a hand through her hair before he chuckled and she pulled away from him a little, curious. "You can take out a huge, drunk guy, but you're scared of getting stitches. I'm a little amused."

"You're a little mean," she would've pouted if it didn't hurt.

He gave a cheeky grin and pecked her cheek, "Ahh, but you love me." The grin turned crooked when he realized what had been said, simply out of habit, although the sentiments were of course still true.

Instead of freezing, Hermione smiled and nuzzled into him again, "Yeah." James blinked before grinning brightly at nothing, holding her just a little bit tighter.

* * *

"It's like you're one of those ragdolls – if it was on the sides of your mouth, that'd be creepy," Sirius said excitedly, having Hermione glared at him heatedly from the clipboard, stitches in her lip. She stood and handed the clipboard to the nurse as the large, beaten up man was brought down the hall by two police officers. James and Sirius stood as Hermione turned and was sneered at by the man. She frowned, clenched her fists, and took a quick step towards him, smirking when he flinched away. The police officers chuckled and moved him down the hall as she walked back to James and Sirius.

"Well, Little Stitched One, I am off – probably because if I keep making jokes, you'll kill me," Sirius said, patting her head, grinning at James before he hummed and strolled out of the hospital, James shaking his head as he left before wrapping an arm around Hermione's shoulders and steering her out, stopping on the landing of the back stairwell to Apparate them home.

"Alright, now hold still, I'm not too good at this," James said, lowering her into the couch, wand out as he carefully flicked his wand, snipping the stitches before making her lip numb, slowly pulling the black pieces of thread out of her lip with his wand, healing it quickly and returning the feeling to her lips only to be replaced by the feel of his on hers. He pulled away and huffed, giving a small frown to her as she smiled, "Don't ever freak me out like that again, alright?"

She nodded and reached up to kiss him again, leaning into his chest as he sighed and collapsed on the couch with her, smiling and running his hands through her hair. "James?" she mumbled sleepily.

"Hmm?" he hummed back, taking his glasses off and setting them on the end table behind him.

"Love you," she sighed, making him freeze for a moment before an even brighter grin than the one from the hospital flicked onto his face, leaning to peck the top of her head.

"I love you too, Hermione," he smiled.

* * *

**I swear that I had things distracting me from writing this out ugh.**


End file.
